London: Fresh blood needed! Count Dracula's Transylvanian castle in Romania is up for sale but those seeking a tryst with folklore may have to shell out a hefty sum.
The Bran Castle or the Dracula's castle as it is popularly known is on the market, not in the conventional fashion, but in a discreet manner with offers invited from the "right people", The Telegraph reported.
"If someone comes in with a reasonable offer, we will look at who they are, what they are proposing, and will seriously entertain the idea," Mark Meyer, of Herzfeld and Rubin, the New York law firm that is handling the sale, was quoted as saying.
It's been reported that current owner of the castle Archduke Dominic offered it to the Romanian government for USD 80 million, but Meyer did not quote a figure, the paper said.
Bran Castle is currently used as a tourist museum displaying a collection of art and antique furniture from its previous owner Queen Marie of Romania, however the current owners, Archduke Dominic von Habsburg and his sisters Archduchess Maria Magdalena and Archduchess Elisabeth, would consider an offer if the right person comes along.
Indeed, the bloodsucking vampire Count Dracula was a purely fictional character, invented by the Irish writer Bram Stoker and made famous in films starring sharp-fanged Christopher Lee. But the fearsome real-life Vlad "The Impaler" Tepes famously operated in this area in the 15th century.
He is said to have been imprisoned in Bran Castle for a couple of months.
Also, Transylvanian legend and folklore are full of characters called 'strigoi' which are ghostly beings that leave their corporeal bodies when darkness falls and roam the surrounding valleys searching for sleeping villagers to terrify.
The property comes with a long list of previous owners such as the Saxons to Hungarians to Teutonic knights.
Each year 560,000 people pay 4 pounds to visit the fortress.
The biggest problem with the property is the lack of lavatories and bathrooms.
"We'd like whoever buys the castle to continue running it as a tourist destination. This isn't just a national monument, it's the largest and most significant attraction in Romania," Meyer said.
