'Dracula's' Castle returned to owner
One of Romania's most popular tourist attractions, Dracula's Castle, is to be returned to its ancestral owners 60 years after being seized by communists. The fourteenth century castle at Bran, near the city of Brasov, is one of the best surviving medieval buildings in Romania.
This report from Nick Thorpe:
The best time to approach Bran Castle is after midnight. Spotlights make the white walls soar suddenly above the little village of the same name. The jumble of pointed towers give it exactly the sinister air Bram Stoker imagined for the home of his hero, Count Dracula.
The return of the castle to Dominic von Hapsburg, a New York-based architect, is the latest step by the Romanian government to restore property nationalised under the communists. He's a relative of Queen Marie of Romania, who used it as a summer residence between the world wars.
The castle is one of Romania's top tourist destinations, though the links with Vlad the Impaler, the probable inspiration for the Dracula figure, are rather tenuous. At best he appears to have stayed here for a few nights in 1462 while fleeing the Turks.
Nick Thorpe, BBC News
to approach
acercarse; pero en este caso, es simplemente 'ir a ver'
soar
elevarse (en este caso, abruptamente: las paredes del castillo se elevan abruptamente)
the sinister air
un aire siniestro
to restore property nationalised
restaurar, devolver propiedad que fue nacionalizada (durante la era comunista)
the links with
vínculos o conexiones con
the probable inspiration for the Dracula figure
es la probable inspiración para el personaje ficticio de Drácula
rather tenuous
con poco fundamendo (el vínculo no está probado)
fleeing
escapando de
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