The theme for the series is based on George R.R. Martin’s best-selling series of books `A Song of Ice and Fire’ a medieval fantasy epic where kings, queens and knights play a deadly game to see who will control the Seven Kingdoms and sit atop the Iron Throne.
The huge popularity of HBO series has attracted a record viewership with fans around the world that has many of them planning their holidays around the backdrops of their favourite episodes.
Seville
Filmed in locations around the world Spain has played a leading role in providing locations for the epic series with Seville’s iconic Royal Alcázar doubling as the Kingdom of Dorne. Fans may have hated the storey line surrounding House Martell and the notorious Sand Snakes but were enthralled by the setting; A UNESCO World Heritage Site. Seville’s Alcázar and its magnificent water gardens will create an unforgettable impression on anyone fortunate enough to spend time visiting the Royal Palace while in Seville.
Osuna
Hollywood descended on the sleepy Andalusian town of Osuna for 14-days to film in Osuna’s Plaza de Toros. Used as a setting for the great pit fight of Daznak. The 4-minute shoot apparently saw 550 stuntmen and extras seen caught on fire with a carefully designed computer-generated dragon.
Roman bridge of Córdoba
Built across the Guadalquivir River in the 1st century BC and reconstructed many times over the coming years, what we see today is the Moorish reconstruction that dates back to the 8th century. HBO used the bridge to depict the Long Bridge of Volantis, but added buildings and markets with computer-generated imagery to make it appear larger than it actually is.
Almería
Notorious as being the location for Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, the dry desert-like land of Almería in southeast Spain was chosen to depict the Dothraki Sea. Dothraki’s capital, Vaes Dothrak was filmed in Pechina while Meereen was set in the Cabo de Gata Natural Park.
Girona
The medieval cobbled streets of Girona’s old town in Spain’s northeast became the setting for the Free City of Essos, the location where Arya Stark was being chased on the steps of the Sant Marti convent. The 12th-century Arab baths featured strongly as did Girona Cathedral doubling as Sept of Baelor, King’s Landing’s centre of religion that Cersei Lannister burned down with wildfire killing everyone inside.
Castillo de Zafra
Guadalajara’s Castillo de Zafra is a stunning sandstone fortress built in the 12th century on the site of a Moorish castle that separated Christian and Muslim Spain. The location was used to portray the “Tower of Joy” in the Red Mountains of Dorne.
San Juan de Gaztelugatxe
Connected to the mainland by a 231 step bridge, the Isle of Gaztelugatxe in the Bay of Biscay was used as the location for Daenerys Targaryen’s ancestral home of Dragonstone. Used in the opening scene of Season 7 the castle atop the islet was digitally made. What you can visit, however, is the 10th-century hermitage of Rocadragon dedicated to John the Baptist. If you see someone ringing the bell 3 times here may be why: Legend says when reaching the hermitage you must ring this bell three times for good luck.
Following the end of the seventh series over 142,000 tourists descended on the hermitage making it the region’s second biggest tourist attraction after the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
