''The Carpathian Castle'' () is a

Gothic novel Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean ...

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...

first published in

1892 In Samoa, this was the only leap year spanned to 367 days as July 4 repeated. This means that the International Date Line was drawn from the east of the country to go west. Events January * January 1 – Ellis Island begins processing imm ...

. It is possible that

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912), better known by his pen name Bram Stoker, was an Irish novelist who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. The book is widely considered a milestone in Vampire fiction, and one of t ...

took inspiration from this for his 1897 novel ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

''. Due to castle aspect and local toponymy, it is assumed that in

Hunedoara county Hunedoara County () is a county (''județ'') of Romania, in Transylvania, with its capital city at Deva, Romania, Deva. The county is part of the Danube–Criș–Mureș–Tisa Euroregion. Name In Hungarian language, Hungarian, it is known as , ...

inspired Jules Verne. Probable inspiration for Verne was his extended stay in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

and the

Devín castle Devín Castle ( or , , ) is a castle in Devín, which is a borough of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. Description The site has been settled since the Neolithic Age and fortified since the Bronze and Iron Age and later by Celts and Roman ...

in present day

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, where he also wrote his novel

The Danube Pilot ''The Danube Pilot'' () is a novel by Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jule ...

Title

The original French title was ''Le Château des Carpathes'', and in English there are some alternate titles, such as ''The Castle of the Carpathians'', ''The Castle in Transylvania'', and ''Rodolphe de Gortz; or the Castle of the Carpathians''.

Synopsis

In the village of Werst in the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

(in the then

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

), some mysterious things are occurring and the villagers believe that

Chort A chort ( Russian: чёрт, Belarusian and Ukrainian: чорт, Serbo-Croatian ''čort'' or ''črt'', Polish: ''czart'' and ''czort'', Czech and Slovak: ''čert'', Slovene: ''črt'') is an anthropomorphic malign spirit or demon in Slavic ...

(the

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

) occupies the castle. A visitor to the region, Count Franz de Telek, is intrigued by the stories and decides to go to the castle and investigate. He finds that the owner of the castle is Baron Rodolphe de Gortz, with whom he is acquainted; years earlier, they were rivals for the affections of the celebrated Italian

prima donna In opera or ''commedia dell'arte'', a prima donna (; Italian for 'first lady'; : ''prime donne'') is the leading female singer in the company, the person to whom the ''prime'' roles would be given. ''Prime donne'' often had grand off-stage pe ...

La Stilla. The Count thought that La Stilla was dead, but he sees her image and hears her voice coming from the castle. It is later revealed that it was only a projected still image accompanying a high-quality

phonograph A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...

recording.

In the media

* The 1981 Czechoslovak comedy feature film ''

The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians ''The Mysterious Castle in the Carpathians'' () is a 1981 Czech comedy film directed by Oldřich Lipský. It is based on Jules Verne's novel '' The Carpathian Castle''. Production The film marks Lipský's third and final collaboration with scree ...

'' is based on this novel.

External links

''The Castle of the Carpathians''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carpathian Castle 1892 French novels 1892 science fiction novels 1890s horror novels 1890s Gothic novels French science fiction novels French horror novels French Gothic novels Science fiction horror novels Culture of Transylvania Transylvania in fiction Novels set in Romania Novels set in Hungary Novels set in castles Novels about nobility French novels adapted into films Science fiction novels adapted into films Horror novels adapted into films French novels adapted into operas Novels by Jules Verne

Title

Synopsis

In the media

Further reading

External links