Standing sentinel on a rocky outcrop above the Bran gorge, the castle was built out of wood in 1212 by Dietrich, a knight of the Teutonic Order. It was destroyed in 1377, then rebuilt in stone. In 2006, the castle was handed over to the heirs of Princess Ileana, daughter of Queen Marie of Romania, and they undertook to keep it open to the public. The medieval look of Bran Castle once fired the imagination of those in charge of tourism locally, who, far from seeing it as a romantic residence, wanted to turn it into a "Dracula's Castle".