Wallachia

After 15 years of stalled restoration efforts at Tokat Castle, believed to have once housed the notorious Dracula in its dungeons, the landmark still awaits completion of restoration works.

"The castle where Vlad Dracula was held captive is in [the Central Anatolian province of] Tokat," history researcher Aybike Gazioglü said.

Cloaked in a black cape like the infamous count himself, 10-year-old Niklas Schuetz runs through the dark corridors of a hill-top castle in search of the truth about Dracula.

"He was a Romanian prince, not a vampire," said the schoolboy, as he tripped by torchlight through the nocturnal gloom of Forchtenstein Castle.

For the first time, Romania's national team in debating for students, coordinated by the Romanian Association for Debate, Oratory and Rhetoric (ARDOR) has ranked in the first eight of the 74 teams in the world, at the World Schools Debate Championship, taking place online between July 25 and August 5.

The number of building permits for residential buildings issued in February 2020 increased by 8.7 percent compared to the same month of 2019 and by 33.6 percent compared to January 2020, according to the data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS) on Monday.

The National Meteorological Administration (ANM) issued on Sunday a Code Orange advisory for heavy snowfalls and blizzard in 12 counties of Oltenia, western Muntenia, southern Banat and the Southern Carpathians, valid until Wednesday morning.

Bucharest, Dec 29 /Agerpres/ - The net investments materialized in new construction works totaled 35.577 billion lei in the first nine months of 2019, representing 53pct of total investments, compared to 44.9pct in the same period of last year, according to data centralized by the National Institute of Statistics.

The first documented mention of the "citadel of Bucharest" as princely residence comes up in a document issued on 20 September 1459 by Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler), ruler of Wallachia (1448, 1456-1462, 1476-1477).

The National Meteorological Administration (ANM) issued a Code Yellow alert of heavy rainfalls and storms in 25 counties for Monday and a similar alert for 10 counties and the Bucharest Municipality until Tuesday morning.

Bucharest, July 14 /Agerpres/ - The Senate's Speaker Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, wishes to France on its National Day "Many Happy Returns!", underlining the influence "sister France" has had over the history of Romania. "I do not think there are many countries in the world which have had a greater influence on our history than sister France.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) on Wednesday celebrates the National Flag Day, which "gives the possibility to all Romanians to show their attachment to one of the symbols of our national identity and unity," reads a release of the MAE sent to AGERPRES.