While looking at an old map of Constantinople, Istanbul today, I felt lost even if I knew my way around. Some buildings were there, while others not yet. Old maps can be unsettling, but ancient maps of cities you just visited even more so.
Continue reading “When an Old Map of Constantinople Meets Istanbul City Today”Stories at Bucharest’s Map Museum: Transylvania in Fries’ 1525 and Mercator’s 1595 Maps, and Dacia in Fries’ 1541 Map
Stories at Bucharest’s Map Museum unfold through three remarkable early maps: Lorenz Fries’ 1525 map of Transylvania, his 1541 map of Dacia, and Gerardus Mercator’s 1595 map of Transylvania, each offering a glimpse into how cartographers of the past imagined and recorded these historic lands.
Continue reading “Stories at Bucharest’s Map Museum: Transylvania in Fries’ 1525 and Mercator’s 1595 Maps, and Dacia in Fries’ 1541 Map”The Unique National Museum of Maps and Old Books in Bucharest
Any visit at the National Museum of Maps and Old Books in Bucharest is a memorable adventure.
As a traveller and historical fiction writer I have always trusted maps and had a thing for ancient books. I know I’m not alone.
Continue reading “The Unique National Museum of Maps and Old Books in Bucharest”Where Did Vlad Dracula Live as Voivode of Wallachia, 1456-1462, Part 5
Curious where did Vlad Dracula live during his second and longest reign of Wallachia, besides Targoviste? Then join my travels today.
Vlad had spent years traveling through the Ottoman lands, Moldavia, and Transylvania—but where did Vlad Dracula live during those years, and which courts, fortresses and roads shaped the man he would become?
Continue reading “Where Did Vlad Dracula Live as Voivode of Wallachia, 1456-1462, Part 5”Following Vlad III in Moldavia and Transylvania: Exile and New Alliances, 1449–1456, Part 4
The years Vlad III spent in Moldavia and Transylvania, exiled, perhaps at the Edirne Ottoman court too, are the ones we now the least about-almost no records were left. These are the years that sparked my imagination writing the historical fiction saga Blood of Kings, Heart of Shadows.
So what exactly do we know about the time Vlad III spent seeking refuge at the Ottoman court an then exiled at the Moldavia court and in Transylvania? He was not yet calling himself Vlad Dracula, and not yet called Vlad the Impaler either.
Continue reading “Following Vlad III in Moldavia and Transylvania: Exile and New Alliances, 1449–1456, Part 4”