Game of Thrones Architecture, Part II

Winterfell View | Image via Wikia

Now that we have explored the vastness of detail and settings necessary to portray the capital of the popular series that is Game of Thrones, we can adventure farther into the unsung corners of the rest of Westeros. Such as the introductory sequence of each episode reveals, this world is not just one story or one place. There is an incredible variety of castles, vales and seas that have mesmerized us for hours on end. And before we forget, all of these places exist in our world! We can visit each of the Seven Kingdoms.

Not falling far behind King's Landing, which requires three different filming sets across several countries to capture it's mediterranean essence, the rest of this world will not see itself be outdone by one city. We see ourselves divided between the continents. From the icy winds of Iceland to the green fields of Ireland, each place was carefully chosen to reveal, in detail, what the books were trying to describe.

Winterfell Sketch | Image via HBO

We start our journey in Northern Ireland, the equivalent of New Zealand for another popular series - Lord of the Rings.

This lush country houses several filming spots for the show from the towers of Winterfell to the shores of the Iron Islands.

Between the vast forests of Wolfswood, the rivers White Knife and Castle Cerwin and to the south of the Mourne mountain range, we find Winterfell. Winterfell is the seat of power for all generations of the Stark family and the capital of the north.

Built by Brandon the Builder eight thousand years ago, with the help of mythical Giants and the northern armies - here lies the foundation for the Kings of the North. It presents itself as a complex of two massive fortified walls with castles and keeps between them.

The exterior is your run-of-the-mill medieval fortificated city but inside the interior walls you may find three unique buildings: the Great Hall, Great Keep and the Sept.

The Great Hall, found next to the main castle, hosts luxurious banquets for over 500 people. It was built in gray stone and is filled with banners across all the walls. Big oak and iron doors open to the exterior patio on the front or the somber galleries of the castle in the back.
The castle itself, the Great Keep, was constructed over fresh hot water springs to help heat it. Keeping itself unaltered for centuries, it casts a shadow over the young church, the Sept, constructed recently by Eddard Stark for his wife, Catelyn.

Castle Ward | Image via Photos For You

Whatever the fate that may befall Winterfell in the series, we can visit it in its real counterparts. Castle Ward, located near a forest with a view to the lake Strangford Lough is a house made in the architectural styles of Gothic and Classic both in its interiors and exteriors. Inside the vastness of it's fields you may find its own exotic garden with its sprawling pathways that reach into the Irish forests in the area.

Although, such as many other places portrayed in the series of the Songs of Ice and Fire, Winterfell also has multiple sets to give it shape. Tollymore Forest Park not only portrays the north of this fortified city, it also introduces us to the televised series itself! The first moments on screen are spent in these 630 hectares at the base of the Mountains of Mourne. When they aren't being used to kill Night's Watch deserters, they are an incredible place to camp, walk around or even ride horseback!


Carrick-a-Rede | Image via Chez Nous

Between the countless natural settings of Northern Ireland, one may find numerous plains, seas and forests that give us all of this natural beauty.
Like the Stormlands where Stannis Baratheon, Davos Seaworth and Melisandre conspire in. These are the caves of Cushendun, rocky formations 400 million years-old, created by the harsh climate of this coast. Other angles of the Stormlands, like the encampment of Renly Baratheon where we were introduced to Brienne of Tarth in her duel against Loras Tyrell are filmed apart, in a 1950 quarry, in Carrick-a-Rede.

The Dark Hedges | Image via Panoramio

Speaking of battlefields, one must address Robb Stark's encampment found next to the same lake that encompasses Castle Ward. Such explains the familiarity of the northerners with Audley's Field, giving them the edge to fight! In the other hand, Stark's enemies are also portrayed in side-by-side fields, in the Bay of Murlogh and Ballintoy Harbor. In the third and second seasons respectively both these are home to the Ironborn Greyjoy's, yet are right next to the same stone quarry that portrays the Stormlands. So close physically yet so far in fantasy, creating an even more awkward parallel with our world.

Having described all of the battlefields and encampments, we lack a road of journey. King's Road, north of King's Landing. It's equivalent is none other than Dark Hedges, an avenue of trees planted by the Stuart family in the 18th century as a sublime act of landscape design to impress its visitors.
Such as Arya Stark did when she passed through here.

This amazement is not unlike any other moments that this country brought us in the show.
It's fun how a work of fiction makes us wonder about the beauty of our green earth. We should watch it more often.

Re-read part I here!