Do you watch Game of Thrones on HBO? Kev and I love the books by Gorge R. R. Martin as well as the television series based on them, so an added bonus to our recent trip to Dubrovnik (arguably one of the most beautiful cities in the world) was that we knew we might recognize some of the locations from the show. Are you a fan? Then this post is for you!
Dubrovnik’s Old Town is a medieval walled city located on the coast of Croatia, and since season two it has been used for various locations in Game of Thrones — most notably as a stand-in for the capital city of King’s Landing. If you watch the show, then you’ll no doubt recognize some of these views and locations. Most of the pictures are thumbnails, so if you click them, you should be rewarded with a much larger image.
Warning: There is a possible spoiler toward the end of the post accompanied by a couple of pictures, so proceed with extreme caution if you haven’t already finished season three. I have posted it a bit lower on the page out of respect for those who aren’t yet caught up.
Before visiting Dubrovnik, we were aware that portions of Game of Thrones were filmed there; we just had no idea when the filming occurred. We certainly didn’t expect to show up and run into any of the actors or crew … but that is exactly what happened.
Kev and I got to watch sets being prepared, and we were also able to watch filming as it occurred. If you’ve never been on a set before, here’s my best impression of the experience: there is a whole lot of time spent on set up with actors and extras milling about in order to get a minute or two caught on film. I don’t know that I would have the patience to do any part of the process on a daily basis, but I thought the mini experience we had was fascinating!
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- Set workers installing props for a scene
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- Set workers installing props for a scene
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- Extras and set workers waiting as a scene is filmed around the corner. Sophie Turner (Sansa) is standing under the trees.
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- The same group of extras and set workers seen from the Minceta.
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- The same group of extras and set workers seen from the Minceta.
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- The same group of extras and set workers seen from the Minceta.
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- Look for this doorway in GoT S4; it is in the scene being filmed.
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- Also watch for this location and these props; they will be in GoT S4
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- Set worker’s equipment
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- Here’s where the set workers and crew were eating lunch
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- We could see this location from the top of Fort Lovrjenac; there was a huge lion head that looked like an entrance to something. We aren’t 100% positive this was a GoT set.
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- The camera crew filming a street scene
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- Another view of the camera crew. The guy in the security shirt is the one who told me to stop taking pictures. =(
We got to see Sophie Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, in costume hanging around waiting to film her scene — there’s no way that you can miss her with that distinctive hairdo!
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- Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) sitting down and having a drink of water. The day was exceptionally warm, and as you can see, she is in full GoT costume.
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- A cropped version of Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) waiting for her call.
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- Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) and her distinctive King’s Landing hairdo
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- A cropped version of Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark)
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- Extras and set workers waiting as a scene is filmed around the corner. Sophie Turner (Sansa) is standing under the trees.
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- A cropped version of Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark) staying hydrated
We did our best to stay out of the way and be respectful, and since there was supposed to be no shooting on the set, we considered ourselves lucky to get any shots of the stars at all. In fact, I got told to put my camera away when we were looking down at the set from the city wall next to Fort Minceta … embarrassing!
Speaking of Fort Minceta; do you remember when Daenerys Targaryen entered the house of the Undying? That was the circular Fort Minceta she walked around in the finale of season two before gaining entry.
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- Fort Minceta, also known as the House of the Undying.
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- Fort Minceta, also known as the House of the Undying.
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- Fort Minceta, also known as the House of the Undying.
Take a look at this picture …
… what you’re not seeing is that the two chairs at the top of the stairs to the right were soon to be occupied by Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister). It took me a moment to recognize Nikolaj, as his hair was longer and generally unkept for much of season three. It is now cut, and he looks much better than he has in some time. Alas, we didn’t get any pictures of him, but we did see him in full Jaime Lannister regalia, and later in cargo shorts and a henly shirt when he was off for the day.
After filming was done, Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) walked by us and a few others who had gathered to watch the action. He was incredibly nice, and he took a moment to greet his fans and say hello. Since he plays one of Kev’s and my favorite characters in the book (and on the show), it was kind of a big deal for us. Kev snapped a pic of him as he was walking away …
Here are a bunch of photos taken from various locations around the Old City. Don’t be surprised if you recognize places where scenes were filmed. The possible spoilers follow this gallery, so consider yourself warned if you haven’t watched to the end of season three!
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- Inside the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Inside the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Inside the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Fort Bokar, the Battle of Blackwater Bay was filmed here and below
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- Fort Bokar, the Battle of Blackwater Bay was filmed here and below
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- Inside the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- The dock below the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac; the Battle of Blackwater Bay was filmed in this cove, next to the round Fort Bokar
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- Fort Bokar, the Battle of Blackwater Bay was filmed here and below
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- Inside the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Inside the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Inside the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Inside the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Inside the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Inside the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Inside the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Inside the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Inside the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Inside the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Inside the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- The Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- The Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- The Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac, and the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- The walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- A typical side street inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- The Island of Lokrum; scenes from Qarth are filmed here
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- Steps from the stone dock going into the bay
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- Views of King’s Landing from the Old City walls
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- The Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- The Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- The Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- The Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- The Big Onophrian Fountain; it’s water is cold and delicious
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- Inside the walled city of Old Town Dubrovnic
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- The Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Fort Bokar and the Old City walls; you know it as the location of the Battle of Blackwater Bay
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- The Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Below the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- The dock below the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- The dock below the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Below the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac; this is the place where the scene depicting the killing of King Robert Baratheon’s “natural born” children
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- Below the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac; this is the place where the scene depicting the killing of King Robert Baratheon’s “natural born” children
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- Below the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac; this is the place where the scene depicting the killing of King Robert Baratheon’s “natural born” children
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- The dock below the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- The steps leading up to the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
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- Fort Bokar and the Old City walls, as seen from the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac)
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- Fort Bokar and the Old City walls; you know it as the location of the Battle of Blackwater Bay
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- Fort Bokar and the Old City walls; you know it as the location of the Battle of Blackwater Bay
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- Inside the Red Keep, Fort Lovrjenac
Possible spoilers ahead …!!
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One of the odder things we saw from afar was what appeared to be a body lying crumpled on a strip of grass. We had noticed film crew movement there previously when we had walked the wall’s perimeter, so we knew that it was related to the show. I snapped a couple of pictures with my Nokia Lumia 1020 from our vantage point, which was several hundred yards away.
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- Is that a body I see lying in the grass?
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- Possibly, but what’s wrong with it?
Not much to see, right? Well, it wasn’t, until I blew the photos up …
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- Oh my …
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- I believe that this is the headless body of King Robb Stark and his dire wolf Grey Wind.
Am I correct that we’re looking at Robb Stark’s headless body lying next to the severed head of his dire wolf, Grey Wind? That was pretty sobering, as “the Red Wedding” was one of the most brutal episodes since Eddard Stark’s execution in season one. I thought that Grey Wind (on the show, at least) was a lighter colored wolf, but this picture has me convinced that I saw what thought I saw.
Robb Stark’s body and Grey Wind’s head attached together in a horrifying scene from season three. Picture courtesy of fanpop
When you watch Game of Thrones season 4, keep your eye out for the locations and scenes you saw in this post. I’m dreading the scene that will show Robb’s desecrated body, but I’m looking forward to seeing the second part of book three, A Storm of Swords, gets played out.
These pictures are amazing. If I didn’t have one of Sony’s new “camera in a lens” devices coming I would be picking one up tomorrow!!
I’ll touch on it a bit more in a separate article, but with the exception of a couple of photos taken by Kev on his Leica, every picture in this post was taken with my Nokia Lumia 1020. =)
What a great post! Great pictures, too. Can’t believe your luck.