Tropicana Magazine Nov-Dec 2018 #121: Festive Frivolities

THE VACATION
DUBROVNIK
“The first time we
saw Dubrovnik,
I was in shock,
because the
whole city really
looked the way
we pictured King’s
Landing.”
M
Medieval fortifications, Gothic
palaces, a picturesque harbour – the old
centre of Dubrovnik would seem stuck
in time, but for the countless tourists
sporting sandals and selfie sticks.
For a few weeks each year, the Pearl of the
Adria is transformed into another world – the
world of the fantasy saga ‘Game of Thrones’.
At the time of writing, a seventh season is
starting up, and once again the Croatian city
of 40,000 is the setting for the fictional city
of King’s Landing. The narrow streets of the
old town centre are made as if down to the last
detail for the capital of the Seven Kingdoms.
Key scenes from the prize-winning television
series based on the books by George R R
Martin are filmed through the city’s centre.
“The first time we saw Dubrovnik, I was in
shock, because the whole city really looked the
DUBROVNIK
way we pictured King’s Landing looking,”
says David Benioff, one of the series’
authors and producers.
Dubrovnik’s historical centre, which
is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was
especially prominent in the fifth season’s
final gut-wrenching episode, when
Queen Cersei of the House of Lannister,
played by Lena Headey, must walk naked
through the streets to atone for her
adulterous sins, a walk of atonement.
The shoot took four whole days,
costing some US$200,000. The costs to
produce the fantasy saga are immense.
While the studios are in Belfast,
Northern Ireland, many of the location
settings are in Spain and Croatia. Crews
must coordinate work and keep changing
locations.
DUBROVNIK
123
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 | TM