A tidy profit considering the castle was worth an estimated 25 million dollars when Romania gave it back to the Hapsburg family last May. Owner Dominic Habsburg, a New York architect, insisted his family had honorable intentions for wanting to sell the castle.

    The Hapsburgs ruled Romania for a period starting in the late 17th century. The castle was owned by the late Queen Marie and bequeathed to her daughter Princess Ileana in 1938. It was confiscated by communists in 1948 and fell into disrepair.

    "We are trying to find the best way to preserve the castle in the interest of the family and the people of Bran," Habsburg said in a statement made available exclusively to The Associated Press.

    Restoration work began in the late 1980s and was partially completed in 1993. It is now one of Romania's top tourist destinations, averaging more than 400,000 visitors a year.

    At the gates of Bran Castle, peasants sell Dracula sweaters hand-knitted from the thick wool of local sheep, cheesecloth blouses, and Vampire wine. Bran Castle is the most famous of 15 citadels and fortresses in the area, which were built by peasants to keep out marauding armies of Turks and Tartars and cruel local medieval lords.

    After the restitution, concerns were raised the family would sell the castle to a hotel chain and the site could end up being the centerpiece of a Dracula theme park that would blight the surrounding, pristine countryside some 105 miles north of Bucharest.

    Lia Trandafir, an attorney for Habsburg, said local authorities are interested in buying it.

    "They'd like to see it coming back to the community and they consider it a central pillar of tourism in Brasov county,"' she said.

    Culture Minister Adrian Iorgulescu has criticized the planned purchase of the castle, saying it is worth only a fourth of Habsburg's asking price.

    "I have nothing against the castle being bought by the city council if they are stupid enough to pay this money," he said.

    Faced with the enormous expense of the castle's upkeep, Habsburg said he wanted to place the property in the hands of the local council with an eye toward ensuring its historic character is preserved.

    While known and marketed as "Dracula's Castle," the Bran Castle never belonged to Prince Vlad III, but the prince is thought to have visited the medieval fortress.

    Vlad Dracula was born in 1431 in Sighisoara, Transylvania. He actually was a Wallachian warlord who fought against the Turkish invaders during the 15th century. The name Dracula came from his father who also fought the Turks. Dracul meant Dragon (from a German order of knights), and Dracula means "son of the dragon."

    Vlad had a passion for impaling his enemies on huge stakes and earned the nickname of Tepes - the Impaler. Vlad often had his dining table placed outside near the dying so that he could watch the show while dining. On one occasion there were so many impaled enemies hanging around the area became known as the "Forest of the Impaled."

    Vlad enhanced his brutal reputation when a large Turkish force invaded Transylvania, then part of Hungary. He was forced to retreat and follow a scorched earth policy. The Turks suffering from lack of food and water later withdrew, but Vlad ensured his place in history by capturing and impaling 20,000 Turkish soldiers.

    In 1462, the Hungarian king, worried the prince might covet his throne, had Vlad arrested and he spent four years in Visigard Castle. In 1476 the Turks invaded once more and Vlad was released. He returned to Wallahia, but died in battle, either by treachery or accident. He was buried in Snagov, north of Bucharest.

    Despite his cruel and savage reputation Vlad Tepes is a national hero, remembered for defending Romania against the invading Ottoman Empire and references to him can be found all over Romania.

    (Agencies)