Unesco Seeks a Taste of the Dracula 'terror Park' Row

A row about plans for a Dracula "terror park" in rural Transylvania is bringing a fact-finding team of Unesco heritage experts to the site, a prized Romanian medieval town, this weekend.

Unesco has expressed its concern about the project, which critics say is likely to sound the death knell for Sighisoara, a world heritage site.

Sighisoara is Europe's only inhabited citadel. It is also the site of a reserve for oak trees, some of them 800 years old.

But the Romanian government, keen to develop its tourism industry, is determined to go ahead with the park.

"Dracula's myth exists and we simply want to package it up attractively and sell it to tourists," the tourism minister, Matei Dan, said.

Sighisoara is the supposed birth place of the 15th-century Wallachian count Vlad Tepes, who is thought to have inspired Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic novel Dracula.

Since the fall of Communism, Romanians have been torn between patriotism towards Vlad and the potential goldmine that is Stoker's Dracula. Now the government says it is time to cash in on an image that Hollywood has been exploiting for years.

Unesco is expected to deliver an official ruling in June. But some of the citadel's 35,000 residents said this week that there was evidence that some ancient oak trees had already been felled to make way for the project. An archaeological dig is also in progress.

The Prince of Wales is expected to visit the town during a trip to Transylvania this spring. Prince Charles, who is patron of the London-based Mihai Eminescu Trust (MET), has yet to make public his position on the park. But privately he is said to be outraged.

The project involves developing a hilltop site just over half a mile from the town centre, to which visitors would be transported by cable car from the citadel.

The planners hope 1 million visitors a year would be lured to the ghost castle, Dracula hotels, vampire rollercoasters and "Vampirology" centre. Snack bars are to serve blood-red candy floss, plates of brains, garlic-flavoured ice cream and blood pudding.

About 85% of the locals support the project, which they say is vital in tackling the region's 50% unemployment rate. Mr Dan says 3,000 local jobs will be created: his critics say that is an exaggeration.

The government predicts that three quarters of the park's visitors will be locals who will collectively spend €20m. But others say the business plan is unworkable: most local people earn an average of £50 a month.

International tour operators have criticised the lack of local infrastructure. The nearest international airport is a five-hour drive away, and the roads are poor.

But Mr Dan says investment will solve these problems. He has issued bonds, persuading locals to buy £40,000 of them so far.

Coca-Cola has bought the exclusive rights to sell soft drinks in the park for £330,000, and the Austrian beer company Brau Union and the hotel chain Best Western are currently in negotiations.

But to most purists the real bone of contention is the dubious link between Stoker's vampire Dracula and Vlad Tepes.

Tepes, a violent count who used to impale his enemies on stakes, is regarded as a national hero for protecting Europe from invaders.

Most Romanians are unaware of Stoker's monster: the communist authorities banned his novel, and for years tried to counter the western version with Romania's own homegrown hero. Moreover, Stoker never once visited Romania.

"Sighisoara doesn't need this freak park, which is related far more to Hollywood and the Stoker novel than to us," said Dumitriu Mehedin, a member of opposition group Sustainable Sighisoara.