Dracula’s Poenari Fortress on the Transfagarasan road reopened after extensive restoration work

The Poenari fortress on the Transfagarasan road was yesterday reopened to tourists, after restoration work that lasted more than three years.

Located on the edge of the DN 7C Transfăgărășan, the Poenari fortress (some write Poienari) is one of the top attractions of Argeș county and of the whole Romania.

The fortress was closed to tourists in 2021. The contract to finance the restoration of the fortress was signed in 2018. The work was supposed to be finished in May 2020, but it started a year and a half after it was supposed to be completed.

There followed about 5-6 deadlines for completion of the works. All missed. Not necessarily due to the fault of the builder, but mainly because the actual execution of the works was often hit by several unforeseen obstacles. Most of the, very difficult to anticipate.

Since yesterday the Poenari fortress was reopened to the public. Dozens of Romanian and foreign tourists visited the restored fortress yesterday. „The youngest tourist was Eveline, a little girl only 5 and a half years old, who came from Bucharest with her parents. A group of tourists from Switzerland were also the first visitors to the fortress from abroad. Tourists and guests toured the fortress walls and enjoyed the fabulous view over the Argeș Valley and the Făgăraș Mountains”, Argeș County Council informed, in a press release.

Quite high restoring costs

A group of members of the Historia Renascita association from Pitești, led by professor Cătălin Drăghici, presented costumes from the era of Vlad The Impaler. Actor Puiu Mărgescu, from the Alexandru Davila Theatre from Pitești portrayed the famous king of Wallachia.

The cost of restoring the Poienari fortress exceeded RON 25 million (more than 5 million euros). 25.66 million, to be more precise. Of this money, RON 9.64 million was European money (9.647 million) non-reimbursable. Argeș County Council contributed the difference of just over RON 16 million.

Poenari Fortress can be visited daily between 10am and 6pm. The last group goes up at 5pm. A ticket costs RON 30 (6 euros) for adults and RON 20 (4 euros) for children.

Poenari fortress, short overwiev&figures

It is located on DN 7C Transfăgărășan, 27 km north of Curtea de Argeș towards Bâlea, on the left side in the direction of Sibiu. The nearest village is Căpățâneni (2 km).

The Vidraru reservoir and dam are 4 km away.

It is built on a mountain spur at an altitude of about 400 meters above the valley, 850 m over sea level.

To reach the fortress, 1,480 steps from the road are to climbed.

It dates from the 14th century; some authors say even at least one century earlier. The construction is said to have been started by Negru Vodă, one of the first kings of Wallachia, then strengthened and enlarged by Vlad the Impaler in the 15th century.

It is visited annually by 100,000-120,000 tourists, almost a third of whom are foreigners.