--- ---  # Archaeologists Believe They Found Dracula's Dungeon by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 2, 2014 12:55 AM UTC  Circa 1450, portrait of Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler, from a painting in Castle Ambras in the Tyrol Circa 1450, portrait of Vlad Tepes or Vlad the Impaler, from a painting in Castle Ambras in the TyrolStock Montage/Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 2, 2014 12:55 AM UTC Archeologists in Turkey have reportedly made a spooky discovery, just in time for the start of Halloween season: the [dungeon](http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/clues-about-draculas-captivity-unearthed-in-tokat.aspx?pageID=238&nid=71501&NewsCatID=375) where the real-life basis for Count Dracula was held. The cell where history’s Dracula, the Romanian prince Vlad III (nicknamed Vlad the Impaler for his gruesome tendency to impale his foes), was recently discovered during a restoration project, the Turkey-based _Hurriyet Daily News_ [reports](http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/clues-about-draculas-captivity-unearthed-in-tokat.aspx?pageID=238&nid=71501&NewsCatID=375). Researchers are reportedly restoring the ancient Tokat Castle, where the Ottomans imprisoned the infamously cruel figure, in the mid 1400s. The team there evidently discovered a tunnel leading to [two dungeons](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/01/draculas-dungeon-found-turkey-tokat-castle%5Fn%5F5907838.html) — one of which is likely to have housed Bad Old Vlad. Dracula Dungeon Reportedly Discovered by Archaeologists ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3453948/archaeologists-believe-they-found-draculas-dungeon/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3453948/archaeologists-believe-they-found-draculas-dungeon/"},"headline":"Archaeologists Believe They Found Dracula's Dungeon","datePublished":"2014-10-02T00:55:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:13:32.004Z","description":"The dungeon believed to have held Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for the blood-thirsty character, was recently discovered in Turkey","url":"https://time.com/3453948/archaeologists-believe-they-found-draculas-dungeon/","keywords":["Newsfeed","History","Turkey","Science topic","Research","World","weird"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2f279de321170ee/6986a676cd6848d94b096c76/vlad-the-impaler.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2f279de321170ee/6986a676cd6848d94b096c76/vlad-the-impaler.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Circa 1450, Portrait of Vlad Tepes 'Vlad the Impaler'(c 1431-1476), from a painting in Castle Ambras in the Tyrol.","caption":"Circa 1450, Portrait of Vlad Tepes 'Vlad the Impaler'(c 1431-1476), from a painting in Castle Ambras in the Tyrol.","creditText":"Stock Montage/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3453948/archaeologists-believe-they-found-draculas-dungeon/","name":"Archaeologists Believe They Found Dracula's Dungeon"}}]}] ```