'Dracula’s dungeon in Turkey' to be viewed online

TOKAT – Doğan News Agency

AA Photo

The Anatolian dungeon where Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler, also known as Count Dracula, is said to have been held captive at the beginning of 1400s will soon be viewable online as part of a digitalization project that was conducted in parallel to restoration on Tokat Castle, which is connected to the prison.

After media reports about the dungeons, many people came to see the castle, Tokat Culture and Tourism Director Abdurrahman Akyüz said. Additionally, some members of the public called officials to ask for information and visuals of the castle. “We set up a camera system here. Especially the dungeons where Count Dracula was kept will be under monitoring. The cameras will be available in 15 days all around the world through the Internet,” he said.

The Tokat Governor’s Office and the Provincial Culture and Tourism Directorate started restoration in 2009 to open up the castle, which is located in the northern province of Tokat, to tourism. Initial work ended in 2010 while a second stage began 3.5 months ago.

Within the scope of the works, the bastions of the castle were reinforced and excavations were made around the fortress. Archaeologists discovered secret tunnels and two dungeons in the castle while also learning that Count Dracula, who lived from 1431 to 1476, was imprisoned there.

One of the archaeologists, who work on the excavations, İbrahim Çetin said that Dracula had been kept captive in one of the dungeons but was hard to estimate in which room he was kept. Çetin did not elaborate.

Vlad III lived between 1431 and 1476. Most historians say he was kept in captivity in Romania. The exact length of his period of captivity is open to debate, though indications are that it was from 1462 to 1474.


The number of visitors of the castle increased to a great extent after the discovery of the dungeons.