High on a rocky outcrop, Dominating Bran gorge, the foundations of the castle were laid by Saxons in 1377, on the site of an earlier wooden fortification, owned by the Teutonic Knights. Bran Castle was commissioned for the people of Brasov, by King Louis the Great. Strategically positioned between the Christian west and invading Islamic Ottomans in the east; its history as a fortified trading post, is long and bloody.
Arriving at Bran, its appearance is formidable. Leaving the bustling village below, and climbing the steep path of the outcrop, a sense of excited apprehension takes hold. The setting is so pretty, but there’s no escaping the history surrounding the castle.
Yet again, the voices of those we captured are speaking in English, all but one, were male. This pattern of responses is common to previous overseas recordings, in Sri Lanka and Norway.
Whilst there were staff and a number of people in the castle, none in our area were English, and those present spoke English with a heavy Romanian accent. It would have been preferable to have been alone on site; unfortunately, that wasn’t possible.