Last year, before filming on Game of Thrones season 8 even began, we learned that HBO was planning to return to the ancient Roman ruins of Italica near Seville, Spain, which is where the crew filmed the Dragonpit meeting at the center of the season 7 finale. Now, Spanish-language fansite Los Siete Reinos has confirmed that the Provincial Heritage Commission (the governing body tasked with protecting historical monuments) has granted HBO permission to use the site again. Get ready to return to the Dragonpit.
The production will use the arena, the pit in the center of the arena, and the stands and galleries surrounding it. In other words, the Dragonpit will look about how it looked last time we saw it, which…makes sense. As for when the shooting will happen, we know that filming will wrap up in June, so it should be soon.
In other news from the front lines, yesterday, we reported on a new structure added to the massive set in Belfast: a dome.
We know this huge set is standing in for King’s Landing. The production has generally used real-world cities for that purpose, chief among them Dubrovnik, Croatia. In fact, they filmed scenes at Dubrovnik not long ago. Now, the eagle-eyed observes at Watchers on the Wall have noticed that the new dome is a replica of the one on top of St. Blaise’s Church in Dubrovnik. Now that’s attention to detail.
Bird's eye view of Dubrovnik's St. Blaise's Church. No photoshop #justdubrovnik pic.twitter.com/2Jyiu8a4
— Just Dubrovnik (@justDubrovnik) January 14, 2013
We’ve seen that dome on the King’s Landing skyline before, when Cersei was watching the Sept of Baelor go up in flames in “The Winds of Winter.”
Here’s a closeup:
This matches what we’ve seen at Titanic Studios almost exactly:
Again: attention to detail. It also makes us think we’re going to get some panoramic shots of this set. If they’ve gone to the trouble of building something this elaborate, they might as well use it, right?
If you’re keeping count at home, we now have three sites that will stand for King’s Landing in season 8: Titanic Studios in Belfast, Dubrovnik in Croatia, and Seville in Spain.
Next: Peter Dinklage confirmed for Infinity War, Davos hangs out with Luke Skywalker, and more
To stay up to date on everything Game of Thrones, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Watch Game of Thrones for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels