Where Game of Thrones was shot

Season 8 is here and the global phenomenon Game of Thrones has taken over the world again. Who will win in the epic confrontation?

Although the article will be easier to understand for GOT fans, if you are not a fan you will also find information that is worth finding out about.

But Game of Thrones is not only season 8. There are many events that took place in the previous seasons for the story to reach this point. And the scenes were filmed in a multitude of places in the world. Among which is Croatia. Last year I visited Dubrovnik, with the locations where the scenes at the King’s Landing, the capital of the 7 kingdoms and the place where the Iron Throne is. This year, I arrived to Split, the place of the Meereen city in GOT.

Before telling you how and why I arrived to Klis, let me give you a short recap of some memorable episodes in GOT. So that you understand the context. In GOT, apart from the Red Wedding in season 3 and the new episode 3 in season 8 – The Long Night, memorable and extraordinary, we also have the Battle for Meereen – as intense, the battle in which Daenerys captured the fleet of the lords. Here, in Split, more specifically in the Klis Fortress, that series was shot.

The Klis Fortress is 15-20 km away from Split, up on a mountainous slope. In the historic reality, it had the purpose to defend this side of the world and it was occupied by many throughout history. From the old Illyrians to Venetians, from Napoleon to Austrian people or Croatian kings, everybody has passed by here. Not very important as a touristic attraction until the GOT filming, it is receiving more and more visitors attracted by the famous series.

The visit here is worth it just for the panorama of Split.You can see kilometers ahead and get a glimpse of the city and the sea. Spectacular! The beauty of this side of the world takes your breath away. And you understand exactly why this fortress was so important in the past.

Overview of Split —— Panorama from Klis

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How do you get to Klis?

• From Split, bus 22 takes you there for 22 kuna round-trip. The trip takes 40 minutes. You can pay the driver.

How much is the entrance to the fortress?

• The adult ticket is 60 kuna and the kids ticket is 30 kuna.

Visiting Schedule

• 9.00 – 19.00

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Before going to Klis/Meereen, I want to tell you what brought us there. GOT was also filmed on the streets of Split. And here we found an official GOT store. Somewhere on a narrow street, on the corner, there is a big poster and inside you can find the Iron Throne. All objects sold here are original and you can buy a T-Shirt or an object you have seen on the show. Then you must take a picture on the Iron Throne!

The store is the preamble of the museum, which opened on May 1st 2019 in Split. An official GOT museum is situated across from the store. The proprietor took us inside the museum, unfinished at the time, and the interior is fascinating for the fans! There are many objects and real-life sized characters from the show inside. Famous swords to a real-life scale – Longclaw of Jon Snow, Arya’s Arc and if you are lucky, the steel Valeryan dagger that killed the King of the Night. The store and the museum are one next to the other and it is a MUST for GOT fans visiting Split.

The meeting here took us to the Klis Fortress the following day

Every day, over 2000 people coming from Split and from around the city were present at the fortress for the filming of the series. Extras in the show, on set helping the film crew, drivers, catering, costumes and so on. The impact during those days was special. The stars of the show occupied almost a full 5 stars hotel and another 4 stars hotel was reserved for the film crew.

As you can see from the pictures above, the fortress is far from the water and the pyramids in the series are not actually there. They brought the city on the sea shore and added the rest with special effects. During the shooting, lunch consisted of 4000 portions of different types of food.

A trip from the hotel to the set could not take longer than 30 minutes and the people who were extras in the show signed confidentiality contracts for a time period regarding the events in the script.

Daenerys Targaryen – aka – Emilia Clarke, who by the way is 1,57 m tall, asked for a special room where she could rest after every climbing of the stairs. Now in that room there are pictures from the shooting.

Filip was our guide through the fortress. Amateur actor, he was an extra in the show and he was present for almost all scenes. He knows almost everything about GOT and is a big fan too. A big fan of Missandei…you know, the woman tagging along Daenerys.

The real Klis Fortress does not look much with the Meereen city from the show. You will recognize the wall where the cave where the dragons exited from, the plateu where the lords came to negotiate the handover and were killed. Still, what is seen in the show is different. Still, this place has more and more visitors every year, because of this phenomenon. The same way we arrived here being interested by GOT, there are many others like us. A real pilgrimage…

The locals are content with this and have invested in the rebuilding of the fortress. They felt like it could be a good business and things moved well. They take their stakes on a spin-off announced of the show and they hope the action can return to Meereen, so to Split, so to the Klis Fortress.

The visit here is not mandatory. Fan of the show or not. You do not HAVE TO go here. It is an adventure out of town for a few hours and a way to spend some quality time. You will see a panorama of Split, have a history lesson and also enjoy nostalgia of the show in case you are interested.