As Oberyn Martell beautifully puts it, “It is a big and beautiful world, most of us live and die in the same corner where we were born in, never get to see any of it, I don’t want to be most of us”. These wise words aptly describe how my 2021 went especially after the huge covid scare – undeniably the best year of my life, for reasons more than my fingers could ever count. Plot twists came after another and another and another, which all led me to reach otherworldly places I never thought I’d be in this lifetime – including Dubrovnik – the very heart of Kings Landing, where nights were definitely not dark, nor filled with terrors, just characterized with sheer joy.
If you think that this post has a happy ending, yes, you have been paying attention. Perhaps it’s best to start from the very beginning (The Pile Gate) – the shoot location for some memorable Game of Thrones scenes, e.g. when King Joffrey uttered the famous line, “Kill him, Kill them!” in the episode, The Old Gods and the New.
The Kings Landing (Pile Harbor) was featured on the same episode when Princess Myrcella was sent to Dorne (and later on, when Cersei waits for her return), a small beach between the Fortress and Fort Lovrijenac.
Upon entry to the walls is Stradun (Dubrovnik Main Street), a limestone-paved pedestrian street where the Onofrio’s fountains (in Pile and Ploce gates) are situated. Beyond GOT, this is home to several cafes, also a location shoot for a Star Wars famous scene, basically the heart of the city.
Blackwater Bay (pier in the Pile Harbor), of course, is known for the Battle in Blackwater in Season 2, among other important scenes.
The Red Keep, capital of the Seven Kingdoms, is set on a cliffside in Lovrijenac Fortress beside West Harbor. Needless to say, it was breathtaking as it is even without the cgi. This was where King Joffrey’s Name Day was held. Cersei’s empowering knowledge “Power is Power” quote resonated on these very walls, as well.
The Purple Wedding is definitely one of the most unforgettable events to ever grace the show, beautifully shot in Gradac Park. I mean, if you have some heart or if you ever have the slightest care for the Starks, this episode will at the very least give some reason to celebrate. Who wants small wins, if we can take down the big fish.
The circular steps of St Dominic Monastery, made famous through the protest speech in the episode Ghost of Harrenhal, was where the rumor about the brother fornicating with his sister in the bed of kings (resulting in a rotten king) was utterly broadcasted by a protestor in loud jest, to which Tyrion (who drinks and knows things) apparently agreed.
House of Undying (Minčeta Tower), the highest point in the walls, featured Daenerys finding her missing dragons during the eighth episode of the second season, together with Jorah Mormont.
Speaking of Daenerys trying to find things, there also was this place (Rector's Palace) in a scene when she visits the spice king to ask for ships to cross the Narrow Sea (although this palace, assumed to be in Qarth, was technically located in the King’s Landing).
The City of Qarth is in fact located in Lokrum Island, a few thousand meters away from King’s Landing. It’s that little green thing over there!
Walk of Shame needs no further mentioning as the mere phrase could automatically trigger a replay of a series of scenes inside every GOT fan’s brain. And why not, this was allegedly the most expensive GOT scene filmed for the entire series. Ironically, it felt everything but shame upon walking in these very steps of the Great Sept of Baelor (Jesuit Staircase), as it truly was a wonderful experience.
Definitely, there are more. But my watch has ended.
