Only recently, the Dutch author Hans Corneel de Roos discovered the site the Irish novelist really had in mind while shaping his narrative: an empty mountain top in the Transylvanian Călimani Mountains near the former border with Moldavia, ca. 20 miles south-east of the Borgo Pass. De Roos also explains why Stoker chose to obscure this location in his novel and compares the vampire's fortress to the Grail Castle as its anti-Christian antipole: It cannot be found on purpose, only by guidance. Harker is brought there by the Count himself, while Van Helsing and Mina - equally nodding off - rely on the instinct of their horses and the mounted men arrive there by following the Gypsies.