Corvin Castle

Rebuilt from an older stronghold starting in 1446 by John Hunyadi, the Hungarian regent and celebrated defender against Ottoman incursions, Corvin Castle grew into one of the largest Gothic-Renaissance fortresses in Europe, its turrets and drawbridges perched dramatically above the Zlaști stream. Local legend holds that Vlad III, "the Impaler," was imprisoned for years within its walls after his fall from power in Wallachia around 1462, kept in a deep well-like dungeon still shown to visitors today, though historians dispute how long, or even whether, he was actually held there. That dungeon and an adjoining "Bear Pit" carry the castle's darkest folklore, with tales of prisoners lowered to their deaths and of two Turkish captives who reportedly dug a well by hand for years after being promised freedom, only to be executed once they struck water. Visitors and staff describe unexplained cold air rising from the well shaft even in summer.