Scanning radar through the land of the castle once detained

Ground-penetrating radar scanning technology will help the team discover the foundation of the castle that is said to hold the earl with the nickname Dracula.

Scientists are working hard to understand the base structure under Corvin Castle in Transylvania, Romania, so that it can be easily restored by long-standing radar scanning, according to Live Science.Corvin Castle (also called Hunedoara or Hunyadi) is said to hold the Earl of Vlad in Wallachia in the early 15th century, who inspired the famous horror novel by writer Bram Stoker in 1897.

Corvin Castle in Romania.(Photo: iStock).

Originally designed in the style of medieval fortresses from the 14th century. By the 15th century, this place was converted into a castle, according to the research leader Isabel Morris from Princeton University in New Jersey, USA. The results of the study are published Dec. 12 at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

In the 15th century, the Earl Vlad Impaler (commonly known as the Thirsty Count Dracula) was imprisoned for 7 years in the dungeon after being deposed in 1462 by General John Hunyadi (Ioan de Hunedoar) of the Hungarian army. This general was the first person to oversee the castle expansion. Later, the castle was expanded twice more in the 15th and 17th centuries.

Because Corvin castle was restored and renovated many times and degraded over time, archaeologists could not be sure of its original structure. The castle is the result of architectural reconciliation from different historical periods. There are also many archaeological projects here, however, the maps of the castle are not uniform and many misplaced records pose challenges for scientists today. Therefore, Morris and colleagues selected the method of using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technology to conduct a survey.

"In order to well perform the renovation of the castle, we need to understand the construction. With radar scanning technology, researchers can simulate the structure of the building during the 17th century. In addition, This technology also helps determine which part of the castle is located on the natural stone floor, which is partly built by humans, which will contribute to the conservation of the work, " Morris said.

Currently, part of the long time has been restored, including the torture room at the bottom of the castle with the victim model tied and hung on the ceiling but the researchers do not know if that room is the place Detain Vlad Impaler or not.