Tour The Walls of Dubrovnik
The Walls of Dubrovnik
The outer walls of Dubrovnik look as if they were built just for the Game of Thrones television show. While it’s true that computer-generated imagery was used to transform real locations into the world that is the show, it is still very recognizable as Dubrovnik. When you walk around the city, you may not even realize that the wall beside you is the very one that appeared as part of King’s Landing, capital of the Seven Kingdoms.
Dubrovnik’s city walls are a series of defensive stone walls that stretch around the old town in a distance that is 6,360 feet in length. They reach a maximum height of around 82 feet. The entire city was enclosed with walls in the 13ths century but were continually extended and strengthened upon until the 17th century. To increase the strength, the walls were reinforced by three circular and 14 quadrangular towers, five bastions, two angular fortifications and the large St. John’s Fortress. Land walls were additionally reinforced by one larger bastion and nine smaller semicircular.
With numerous additions and modifications throughout their history, the walls of Dubrovnik have been considered to be among the greatest fortification systems of the Middle Ages, as they were never breached by a hostile army during this time period. No wonder the Game of Thrones chose this wonderful place to depict their King’s Landing in the show!
Bokar Fortress
This was featured in season two of the Game of Thrones as part of the King’s Landing walls. It can best be seen when Tyrion and Lord Varys planned the defense of King’s Landing while looking out to the sea. It was built in 1461 by Italian architect Michelozzo di Bartolomeo to defend the western entrance to the city of Dubrovnik. The fort there today was completed in 1570 and is the oldest fortress in Europe.
Seaside Walls
The seaside walls can be seen in many scenes of the Game of Thrones. When Tyrion and Lord Varys planned the defense of King’s Landing on the Bokar Fortress, you can see the city walls and the computer-generated Red Keep in the background. In season six, when Jaime Lannister was on his way back from Dome sails towards King’s Landing with the dead body of Myrcella, we can see it as well.
West Walls
The west wall near the Pile Gate is used as a practice yard in season four. It is also used in season five when Lancel leads a squad of the Faith Militant to apprehend Loras Tyrell while he is practicing swordplay in the practice yard. Also, when Cersei is speaking with Tommen, the west wall doubles as the walls of Red Keep.
There are many more areas in Dubrovnik to explore not only where scenes from the Game of Thrones took place but also where history in this great city took place. There is so much to see and do here. This is a city steeped in rich culture and history as well as an exciting backdrop for not only the Game of Thrones television show but also many other shows and movies as well.
