(Westeros is the setting for Game of Thrones for those, like us, who don't follow the series.)
Dubrovnik old town was crawling with advertising for its links to the filming of Game of Thrones and The Last Jedi. The mayor allowed them to film for free, on the basis that the advertising alone would pay for it (although they couldn't do it in season, of course, so they were probably freezing in some of the Star Wars scenes). That seems to have paid off, with tourists choosing the city on the basis of the filming there.
After Dubrovnik we moved up the coast to Split. The old town of Split grew around the palace Diocletian built, and it is really quite sweet to see the Medieval and Renaissance buildings built into ancient Roman walls and temples turned to churches or civic buildings with minimal changes.
The old town was quite crowded in the major attractions and as we went through some of the grander places you could hear people talking about which scenes had been filmed there. We had been over-optimistic. It turns out that much of Game of Thrones was filmed in the Split area.
But for all the excitement, the City History Museum, which was really quite a good one, was decidedly short on people.
This couple have written excitedly about many of the places at www.boredpanda.com and not a mention of why anyone might have built the real places. Given the incredible real history of the real place, it seems odd for me to focus solely on imaginary history.
We went to the fortress of Klis, which is just on the outskirts of Split, where its history was well explained in the little museum on the site. It was the Ottoman border for several hundred years and had been the base of the Ushkoks, who have a bit of a Robin Hood aura in Croatian folklore. Once it fell to the Turks it was a terrifying threat to the locals, being within sight of the still Christian coast. Yet all the other visitors seemed to be interested only in its links to the TV series.
So terrifying was the Turkish threat that the locals built an amazing variety of little fortified hamlets, castles, forts and bridges. Quite a few of these remain, especially along the "Kastel" coast to Trogir. We were staying in one of those villages, Kastel Gomilica, which has a fortified island, still lived in (you can stay on the island, although we didn't).
Alison and I had a nice wander along the coast one of the days looking at all the bits of interest in each of the villages – which have now merged, because the area is nicer than Split town itself and both the locals move there and tourists stay in the many small apartments and B'n'Bs.
The water is as blue and clear as it has been down the whole coast – the photo above is a good indication of what it looks like out to sea. Although the land doesn't plunge into the sea from cliffs like it does on much of the coast, there are still a line of cliffs a couple of kilometres back behind the houses. The overall effect is very picturesque.
And so now to Zagreb. We've spent just over two weeks on the Dalmatian coast (including the Montenegrin section) and while we can see what brings in the more fleeting tourists, we are going to be happy to leave it behind. It is beautiful, but travel is so awkward and too much of it is too busy at this time of year.
Dubrovnik old town was crawling with advertising for its links to the filming of Game of Thrones and The Last Jedi. The mayor allowed them to film for free, on the basis that the advertising alone would pay for it (although they couldn't do it in season, of course, so they were probably freezing in some of the Star Wars scenes). That seems to have paid off, with tourists choosing the city on the basis of the filming there.
After Dubrovnik we moved up the coast to Split. The old town of Split grew around the palace Diocletian built, and it is really quite sweet to see the Medieval and Renaissance buildings built into ancient Roman walls and temples turned to churches or civic buildings with minimal changes.
A stretch of waterfront, built into the front of the Roman Imperial Palace.
The old town was quite crowded in the major attractions and as we went through some of the grander places you could hear people talking about which scenes had been filmed there. We had been over-optimistic. It turns out that much of Game of Thrones was filmed in the Split area.
But for all the excitement, the City History Museum, which was really quite a good one, was decidedly short on people.
This couple have written excitedly about many of the places at www.boredpanda.com and not a mention of why anyone might have built the real places. Given the incredible real history of the real place, it seems odd for me to focus solely on imaginary history.
Klis castle (and cell phone tower). That cliff is near vertical much of the way up.
So terrifying was the Turkish threat that the locals built an amazing variety of little fortified hamlets, castles, forts and bridges. Quite a few of these remain, especially along the "Kastel" coast to Trogir. We were staying in one of those villages, Kastel Gomilica, which has a fortified island, still lived in (you can stay on the island, although we didn't).
Gomilica "Castle"
Alison and I had a nice wander along the coast one of the days looking at all the bits of interest in each of the villages – which have now merged, because the area is nicer than Split town itself and both the locals move there and tourists stay in the many small apartments and B'n'Bs.
The water is as blue and clear as it has been down the whole coast – the photo above is a good indication of what it looks like out to sea. Although the land doesn't plunge into the sea from cliffs like it does on much of the coast, there are still a line of cliffs a couple of kilometres back behind the houses. The overall effect is very picturesque.
And so now to Zagreb. We've spent just over two weeks on the Dalmatian coast (including the Montenegrin section) and while we can see what brings in the more fleeting tourists, we are going to be happy to leave it behind. It is beautiful, but travel is so awkward and too much of it is too busy at this time of year.
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