It turns out we accidentally included a Game of Thrones location tour in this trip. Not on purpose (the spreadsheet was built around history, food, and architecture, not HBO production decisions) but Andalucía was so central to later seasons of the show, that the overlap is essentially unavoidable. Six of the places on this itinerary were used as filming locations. One of them we already flagged in its own post (Castillo Almodóvar del Río as Highgarden). The others were hidden in plain sight.
A note before we begin: the show's creators chose Spain specifically because Dorne (the southernmost kingdom of Westeros, the hottest, the most Mediterranean in character) was openly modeled in the novels on medieval Islamic Spain. The Moorish palaces of Andalucía were not a coincidence. They were the inspiration. When the production finally had the budget to film in Spain from Season 5 onward, they were essentially returning to the source material.
1. Real Alcázar, Seville → The Water Gardens of Dorne
The gardens and fountains serve as the Water Gardens where Jaime Lannister and Bronn arrive to retrieve Myrcella.
The Ambassadors' Hall (the gold-ceilinged throne room, the same room where Ferdinand and Isabella planned Columbus's voyages) appears as the throne room where Ellaria Sand confronts Prince Doran Martell.
The Pool of Mercury and the Baths of Doña María de Padilla (the underground cistern beneath the palace) become the private baths of Dorne where the Sand Snakes are introduced.
The Garden of the Dance (Jardín de la Danza) is the pavilion where Jaime intercepts Myrcella and Trystane.
The choice of the Alcázar was the production's most inspired Spanish decision. Pedro I's palace was the architectural embodiment of the cultural fusion that Dorne was always meant to represent.
2. Itálica Amphitheatre, Santiponce (near Seville) → The Dragonpit
The Dragonpit scene in Season 7's finale is one of the most significant in the entire show: the meeting where Jon Snow, Daenerys, Cersei, Tyrion, Jaime, and nearly every major surviving character gather to discuss the threat of the Night King. The arena floor, the entrance tunnels, the curved stone seating: all Itálica, with CGI adding height to the walls and populating the stands. The scene was also used in the final episode of Season 8 for the Great Council, where the lords of Westeros gather to choose a new king.
The detail that makes this location particularly resonant: a Roman amphitheatre (a place where humans were made to fight and die for entertainment) repurposed as the setting for the most consequential diplomatic meeting in Westerosi history. The stones are the same. Only the purpose changed.
3. Castillo Almodóvar del Río (near Córdoba) → Highgarden
This is where Jaime Lannister arrived with the army at Highgarden's gates, followed by the famous confrontation with Lady Olenna Tyrell (Diana Rigg), in which she is given poison and delivers what is arguably the most satisfying final line in the entire series. The castle's exterior walls, towers, and the viewpoint from which Olenna watches the approaching army are all Almodóvar, with interior scenes added on soundstages in Belfast.
The castle's dungeons were additionally used in the same season to represent sections of Casterly Rock, the Lannister seat, making Almodóvar del Río the only location in Spain (possibly in the world) to have played two different castles for two rival noble houses in the same season.
4. Puente Romano (Roman Bridge), Córdoba → The Long Bridge of Volantis
The bridge's most notable appearance: in Season 5, Tyrion Lannister and Varys arrive in Volantis and walk across the Long Bridge, which in the show is lined with taverns, brothels, stalls, and Red Priests of R'hllor preaching to the crowds. The real bridge has 16 arches and stretches 247 meters over the river. CGI extended it significantly and populated its edges with structures that the medieval restoration work had not provided.
The point of dissonance a GoT fan feels standing on the Puente Romano: the bridge in the show is teeming with life and commerce; the actual bridge is wide and open and tends toward the contemplative. The CGI did heavy lifting here. But the stone is the same stone, the arches are the same arches, and Tyrion and Varys walked here. We walked there as well, several times, going back and forth to our apartment on the other side of the river!
5. Plaza de Toros de Osuna (near Seville) → Daznak's Pit, Meereen
The bullring of Osuna, a stone arena built in 1904, designed by Aníbal González (the same architect behind Plaza de España in Seville), seating approximately 5,000. It became Daznak's Pit, the great fighting arena of Meereen, for the sequence in which Daenerys reluctantly reopens the fighting pits, watches Jorah Mormont fight in a desperate bid to regain her favor, and the Sons of the Harpy attack. It ends with Drogon arriving and Daenerys climbing onto his back for the first time.
If interested, the Osuna Bullring and a small local GoT museum are open to visitors (Thursday, Saturday, Sunday). An hour from Seville by car or train; about 90 minutes by bus.
6. Seville Royal Shipyards (Atarazanas Reales) → King's Landing
The Atarazanas were closed to the public for most of the past two decades but underwent restoration work in recent years. Check current access status before visiting; they have been intermittently open and are worth seeing for their own architectural merit independent of the GoT connection.
A Final Note
The fact that HBO chose Andalucía specifically because the region's Moorish architecture inspired Dorne in the original novels adds a pleasing layer to the whole thing. Ronda's gorge, Seville's Alcázar, Córdoba's Mezquita — these places shaped George R.R. Martin's imagination when he was constructing his fictional world. The show then brought cameras back to the source. When you walk through the Real Alcázar and recognize the courtyard from Season 5, you are standing inside the inspiration for the inspiration. The Moorish craftsmen who built the Alcázar for Pedro I in 1364 had no idea they were constructing the Water Gardens of a kingdom that wouldn't be imagined for another 625 years.
That's the kind of thing that makes Andalucía impossible to fully account for. The history keeps going.
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