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COME WITH US TO THE PLACES OF THE GAME OF THRONES

WHERE WAS GAME OF THRONES FILMED?

Part One
 

A few weeks ago, started the eighth season of the Game of Thrones (the most popular and followed TV series in the world), which according to the HBO, will be the last one.
This series became so popular, that it made Britain pay homage to it (all of the Western Continent scenes were filmed in Northern Ireland!) by placing on the market, in 2018, a series of postage stamps with the faces of the protagonists. There is a total of ten characters from the previous seven seasons and five stamps depicting The Iron Throne, the Night King and his “soldiers”, Direwolves, Dragons and Giants.

 
Its intricate plot has captured practically everyone. Who has never seen it?
 
But where were the scenes from the series filmed? How was it possible to give birth to the imaginary realms of Westeros and Essos?
 
The series of Game of Thrones was filmed in spectacular places and That Aviation Italia will take you on a virtual tour to the discovery of the best locations of the film set in Croatia, Northern Ireland, Malta, Morocco, Scotland, Ireland and Spain.
 
Organizing an event, an incentive or a company meeting in one of these locations could prove to be a winning idea.
 
In addition to having very evocative landscapes, these places are also rich in history, culture and have so much to offer even in working and business perspective.
There are many places to “visit”, therefore we will divide this article into two parts: the first part you will see on this page and the second part you will see the next week.
Are you ready?
 

Croatia
Croatia was a fantastic set of the Game of Thrones. There the King’s Landing is located.
It is an important place where various characters meet and bring to life intrigues and conspiracy that appear in almost all of the episodes of the series.

The official throne of Westeros is located in Dubrovnik, a monumental city surrounded by large and imposing walls, on a peninsula near a solemn and suggestive cliff. But many of the scenes with walls are set in Stagno, south from Croatia, where the so-called “Great Wall of Europe” is located.
The Red Keep is the heart of King’s Landing and, in reality, it is the Fort Lovrijenac placed on the borders of Dubrovnik, but only starting from the second season. In the first series, in fact, the scenes of the Red Keep were filmed in Malta.
The scene of the famous Battle of the Blackwater was filmed in the waters of the bay in front of the Fortress.

The palace gardens, instead, are set in the Trsteno arboretum, a small town near the sea about ten kilometres away from Dubrovnik.
This garden is rich in a variegated flora, with pergolas of vines and an aqueduct that leads to a source. Many scenes in which Varys and Tyrion walk in the outer parts of the palace are filmed in these gardens.

Surely you will remember the speech of Khaleesi Daenerys Targaryen before hundreds of freed slaves. Well, this scene was shot in a stone quarry in Split, while its wonderful Palazzo Diocleziano, World Heritage Site and UNESCO, was the location of many scenes shot in the fifth season.

Also, on the Croatian coast, there is Sibenik, a beautiful city that invites to relaxed walks among its majestic beauties. One of these is San Giacomo Cathedral, also a UNESCO World Heritage.
Many of the scenes of the fifth season of Game of Thrones were also shot in Sebenico, because it is the location chosen for Braavos, one of the Free Cities.

Quarth, City of Merchants, in Continent of Essos, is located on a beautiful island of Lokrum only ten minutes away from the coast of Dubrovnik.

Many other scenes were filmed in Croatia and many were filmed in Krka National Park, among its waterfalls and its turquoise waters. Not to mention the Fortress of Klis, the place where Daenerys plans her return to power.

Croatia is a wonderful place to visit, with a mild climate and a lot of history to discover.

It is not far from Italy and requires a relatively short air transfer: only an hour and forty minutes from Milan!
Dubrovnik has an ever-expanding airport to better meet passenger needs.

Organizing corporate events in Croatia is certainly an attractive choice, but we’ll talk about it better in our next article dedicated to Dubrovnik.

 

Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland, with its landscapes and locations, made a great contribution to the success of Games of Thrones. This location was chosen not only for its beauty and particularity, but also for its rainy climate and, in fact, here were shot all of the less sunny scenes of the Seven Kingdoms, most of the scenes of Winterfell and of the North.

The House Stark is set in the majestic Castle Ward and in its 820 acres of land, above the Lake Strangford. It is the place where, in the first season, Robert Baratheon and his court arrive at the House Stark and also where he and Ned Stark converse during a hunting.
Ward Castle is a stately home of Gothic and classical architecture and lends itself well to identify with the House Stark.

Another spectacular location used in Game of Thrones is the Tollymore National Park, that is, Northern Woods. In this park numerous scenes from the series were shot.
For example, the one in which Ned Stark and his children meet the direwolves, or the moment when a member of the Night Watch sees a family of the Wildlings that died in the snow.
This park has more than 600 hectares of land and offers wonderful sea views.

If you are planning a trip to Northern Ireland, don’t skip a visit to this beautiful park!

Do you know where Davos Seaworth’s ship wrecked after the Battle of the Blackwater Bay?

One would say in the waters of Croatia, since the scene was filmed there … Instead, the scene was shot in the Bay of Murlough – the Iron Island. A beautiful place with beaches and enchanted cliffs where, perhaps, you will remember the ride of Theon and Yara.

Speaking of beaches, we cannot forget the Beach of Downhill where the Mussenden Temple is located, right on top of a cliff.
It is there where the external filming of the Dragonstone scenes, when Melisandre burns the Old Gods on the beach, were made.

And remember the scene where Stannis Baratheon receives the flaming sword from the “Priestess of R’hllor“? Also this scene was filmed here!

What to say, instead, of the tree avenue of The Kingsroad leading to King’s Landing? Do you know what am I talking about?

It is the spectacular avenue of Dark Hedges, whose trees were planted by the Stuart family in the 18th century to impress visitors who approached their home.

For the Port of Pyke on the Iron Islands, where Theon Greyjoy arrives for the first time after many years – the production of Game of Thrones chose the Port of Ballintoy, a fishing village which is also one of the most beautiful areas of the Antrim coast.

Other scenes were filmed in Cushendun Caves, due to extreme weather conditions, where Melisandre landed to give birth to the dark creature which then killed Renly Baratheon.

This is not the only quarry in the area that was used as a film set. Also the Cave of Magheramorne hosted several shootings of the fifth season of Game of Thrones where we see the Hardhome and the Black Castle.

Finally, off the northern coast of Ireland we find a part of the sets that were used for the Stormlands. The place is Larrybane and it is here that King Renly mounts his camp and celebrates the tournament in which Brienne of Tarth beats Ser Loras Tyrell.

Larrybane is home to one of the most famous rope bridges in the world: Carrick a Rede.

We have already talked about Ireland in our previous article, and we invite you to read it in order to take some ideas on the realization of an incentive or a team building on this wonderful island. However, in the previous article we did not speak about the area of Northern Ireland and we hope that the landscape beauties mentioned in these lines, can be a stimulus for new, exciting incentive trips, perhaps with a theme of Game of Thrones!

 

Where is the Long Bridge of Volantis actually is located? And the city of Astapor and the Continent of Essos?

We will tell you about it next week!

 

That Aviation Italia: the broker that takes you around the world.

For any further information and flight price quotation please contact us.

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