The Scottish castle Slanes, serving as a prototype of the Dracula castle, is going to become a rest home.
Solemn ruins of the castle cast a weird shadow on the rocky coastline, where according to the legend spirits of the drowned sailors come out of waters once a year.
The 16th century castle situated on a steep slope has been repaired more than 70 years. It was at peak of its fullest flower when the writer Bram Stoker visited it in 1890s. At present this roofless castle is getting ready to be transformed into a rest home with 35 rooms for tourists and vampire hunters.
The proposal to renew the ruins was made a long time ago, but the usual red tape had almost frustrated the plans. However contractors declare that construction works shall begin in 2008.
“The project is rather complicated and its implementation shall demand a long time. Construction works are sure to begin the nest year. We want to restore the initial view of the castle. It shall become that very caste that had once inspired Bram Stoker, rather than a pile of ruins”, – Douglas Forrest, the new project architect says.
Several years Stocker used to visit the place called Cruden Bay, where he rented a small house overlooking the castle. It is known that he has written at least four other stories, inspired by local legends.
Arming themselves with archival documents, hundreds of photos of the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, as well as with original location plans, designers hope to reconstruct the castle with 100% accuracy.
“North East Scotland shall undoubtedly get financial benefit from a project like the Slanes Castle. Besides the American multimillionaire Donald Trump proposed to build a recreation area close to the castle”, added Forrest.
Iuri Tarabanov writes about interesting travel experiences. His Travel Directions site is http://www.travelime.com