Tag Archives: medieval

A Visit To Kings Landing #GameOfThrones

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(Warning: This post contains spoilers for Season 8 of Game Of Thrones, so if you’re not all caught up, read further at your own peril. Again, spoilers spoilers spoilers)

A couple of years ago, I shared two posts about visiting Dragonstone, the Targaryen island fortress from Game of Thrones. Of course, I didn’t really visit a fictional location – rather, I visited the two spectacular filming locations in Spain, Itzurun Beach and San Juan de Gaztelugatxe.

A couple of weeks ago, I went on a writing holiday with three fabulous friends to my third Game Of Thrones location, the beautiful medieval walled city of Dubrovnik, which stood in for Kings Landing in the show. All of us being GOT fans, we decided to book a two hour guided tour taking in many of the famous locations from the show.

Of course Dubrovnik, a World Heritage site, was a tourist draw long before the Lannisters came to town and, according to our fabulous tour guide, Eva, the hugely popular HBO show hasn’t really done much to change visitor numbers to Dubrovnik. As she put it, ‘the city was already at capacity.’

Eva was uniquely qualified to be our guide, having worked as the stand-in for Cersei, Danaerys and several other of the main female characters on the show, as well as being a Production Assistant to the showrunners, Dan and David. She’d been part of the show since the very beginning, and so was the perfect person to take us around the fictional Kings Landing.

We visited key locations such as Fort Lovrijenac, which was used for several key scenes, including one in the Red Keep courtyard when Cersei uttered her famous line, ‘Power is power.’

We also saw Blackwater Bay, and the long quay where Sansa, Bran and Arya bid Jon farewell in the final series episode.

We stood on the Shame steps, looking up to where the fictional Sept of Baelor stands in the show, and listened to bells ring out across the city from the towers used in the show to signal the Lannisters’ (ultimately futile) surrender.

The tour was two hours long, which, at the end of a very hot day, was enough. We’d done plenty of exploring already, walking the city walls (location for the House of the Undying as well as plenty of other scenes in the show), and taken in the extraordinary romantic views of islands and blue water.We’d sat in the shade of a curving stone tower watching people swim as we chatted and rested our tired feet, and had snuffly wet kisses from a small black pug dog.

We’d wandered along the stone quays, marvelling at the amount of fish in the crystal-clear waters. Swallows darted above, their constant chirping part of the city soundscape, as were the bells from the many towers, striking the hours.

And, as we wandered the streets in subsequent days, along lantern-lit alleyways and curving flights of stairs, through sun-drenched courtyards filled with orange trees, I realised what Eva was telling us.

Game of Thrones has created a mythology around Dubrovnik, that of a city peopled with characters from fantasy. But Dubrovnik was already a place of wonder and magic, a city full of stories – Game of Thrones is just one of many. I’m sure it won’t be the last.

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Wednesday Wander – Caernarfon Castle, Wales

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I’ve been to Caernarfon, located on the picturesque North Wales coast, a few times. But my most memorable visit took place quite a few years ago, when a friend and I were travelling through Wales together. We managed to find, on our meagre budget, a guesthouse with a view of the famous castle, a genial host named Norm, and a very generous breakfast (we may even have taken some extra packets of cereal with us for later in the day – very small travelling budget, as mentioned).

I don’t know whether Norm’s Place, as we affectionately dubbed our guesthouse, is still there, but the castle undoubtedly is. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1986, Caernarfon Castle was built in 1283 by Edward I, on the site of an earlier Norman fortress. It was one of a series of castles built by Edward after his defeat of the Welsh, to impose English rule on the land. Edward and his queen visited the castle in 1294 when, it is said, Edward II was born, and was designated the first Prince of Wales. Since that time, the title has traditionally been held by the eldest son of the British monarch, with Prince Charles, the current Prince of Wales, receiving his investiture at Caernarfon Castle in 1969.

The castle, despite its auspicious beginnings, has had a turbulent history. Sacked and set aflame by Madog ap Llewellyn during the Welsh uprising in 1295, the castle was recaptured and rebuilt by the English a year later. In the early 1400s it was besieged by Owain Glydwr, with support from the French – later that century, the Welsh Tudors took over the British throne and tensions eased, but the castle, which had been damaged over the years, fell into disrepair.

Despite being a Royalist base during the Civil War, the castle escaped destruction, but it wasn’t until the 19th century that repairs began. In 1911, the first modern Prince of Wales was named there, when Prince Edward (later Edward VIII) was invested by his father, George V.

Image: Manfred Heyde, Wikimedia Commons

Nowadays the castle, dreaming by the water, looks like something from a fairytale, a fortress from a vanished time. It is a popular tourist attraction, with almost 200,000 visitors in 2015, and is also home to the Royal Welsh Fusilliers Museum. It’s well worth a visit due to its wonderful state of preservation and its huge scale – you can see, looking at the size of the people in the photographs, how large it is. It must have been quite imposing in its day. In fact, it still is.

Thanks for coming on another Wednesday Wander with me – see you next time!

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Wednesday Wander – Tenby, South Wales

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This week I’m wandering to the pastel picture-postcard town of Tenby, in the south of Wales. Set on a beautiful stretch of coastline, the oldest part of the town is enclosed by a medieval stone wall, built for defense after repeated successful sackings of the then-Norman town by Welsh forces.

There is thought to have been a settlement here as early as the 9th century, and the current town features architecture from a variety of periods. It’s well known for the pastel colours many of the old town houses are painted, making for a colourful photograph even on a dull day.

The town has seen its fortunes change several times over the centuries, from a being an important medieval town to becoming almost a ruin in the 17th century, after it declared for Parliament during the Civil War and was consequently overrun and sacked. A plague ten weeks later wiped out much of the remaining population, and it sank into disrepair. However, the late eighteenth century passion for sea-bathing restored its fortunes, and investment led to new building, creating much of the town you see today.

Nowadays Tenby, with its golden beaches and colourful houses, is a popular holiday destination, tourists coming to discover sea, sunshine and history down its curving alleyways. The annual Wales Ironman competition is also held there, a rousing end to the summer season. I don’t know about you, but I would love to live in a pastel coloured house by the sea, watching the waves and sky change colour. Perhaps I’ll get to, one day…  🙂

Thanks for coming on another Wednesday Wander with me – see you next time!

If you enjoyed this post and want to read more, you can find me on Twitter @AuthorHelenJ,  Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Plus my latest book release, A Thousand Rooms, is now available on Amazon. Visit my Amazon Author Page to see more.

Thursday Doors – The Bishop’s Door, St Albans Cathedral

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IMG_3166A little while ago I posted about a set of doors at St Albans Cathedral, which someone commented ‘were probably the oldest’ set of doors to appear in the Thursday Doors Challenge. Now, I know I have an advantage, as I live in a country where buildings can be a thousand years old. However, this week, I have an even older door.

Also in St Albans Cathedral, the Bishop’s Door is thought to have been made around 1396, and the Great West Doors I featured previously, made around 1420-40, were based on the design of this earlier door. On the top right-hand side of the doorframe is the crest of St Albans, and on the other side the crest of Richard II, king at the time the doors were made. The timber has been well maintained over the years, so is in better condition than the Great West Doors, and the quality of the carving is just beautiful.

IMG_3167And here is some more carving – two hundred year old graffiti, scratched into the wall at the left of the door, just above the stone plinth. There are even older examples to be found in the cathedral, some dating back to medieval times, proof that people always like to leave their mark.

IMG_3169This is my entry for Norm 2.0’s weekly Thursday Doors Challenge – for more doors, or to add one of your own, visit Norm’s site and click the link 🙂

 

Thursday Doors – St Mary’s Guildhall, Coventry

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IMG_2671This lovely building is St Mary’s Guildhall, located in Coventry, England. Built around 1340, reputedly partly from the stones of the castle previously on the site, the Guildhall is a wonderful example of a medieval building. It also contains some rather fabulous doors.

IMG_2638This is probably one of the newest doors in the building, most likely from the last century. Improvements were done to preserve the building in the 1930s, and this may have been when this door was put in.

IMG_2648 IMG_2647And this is probably one of the oldest doors in the building. It’s the door to the 14th century Treasury Chamber, set in what is thought to be an even older tower from the castle that previously stood here. I couldn’t get the best angle of the front of the door, but managed to get a good shot of the back showing the huge timbers and iron bolts – they built things to last in those days.

IMG_2661This is also a door, though a secret one, set into the panelling. Only the tiny keyhole and hinges give it away for what it is.

IMG_2641And this door leads into a rather splendid council chamber – it’s probably 14th or 15th century in date. The guide I spoke to said there were doors of all eras in the building, from the 14th right through to the 20th century.

IMG_2668Finally, this lovely door leads into the Drapers Room – I love the carving and linenfold detail on it, though I do think the metal push panel detracts from the overall look. This room also has a gorgeous stained glass window, which I am adding here as a bonus.

IMG_2669I will probably be doing a further post on the Guildhall, as it’s a fascinating place with a rich history. But for now, this concludes my Thursday Doors entry for this week, part of Norm 2.0’s Thursday Doors Challenge. For more doors, or to add one of your own, head over to Norm’s blog and click the link.

Wednesday Wander – Ford’s Hospital, Coventry

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This week I am wandering to the city where I grew up. Coventry, in the Midlands, is a city with a long history. It is where Godiva rode the streets naked, where the original Peeping Tom first looked at what he shouldn’t, where kingmakers, nobility and powerful abbeys once ruled together. It’s where the phrase ‘true blue’ was coined, said to refer to a particular type of blue dyed cloth made in the city during the middle ages, which held its colour very well. Coventry was also a major stopping post on the way to London, so prisoners of rank, including Mary, Queen of Scots, were held here for a time before being transferred to the Tower for execution. During that time, no-one would speak to them for fear of being seen as a sympathiser, hence the idea that no-one speaks to you when you’ve been ‘sent to Coventry.’

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In the 1930’s, three acres of some of the best preserved medieval streets in Europe were razed to accommodate new, wider streets and modern businesses. At the time, it was denounced as an act of vandalism in the press. Then the Second World War came, and much of the remaining town centre was destroyed in a single night of bombing on November 14, 1940, codenamed Moonlight Sonata by the Luftwaffe. There are theories that Churchill was aware of the bombing before it happened, but chose not to alert the city as it would have signalled that the Allies had cracked the Enigma code, so the city was sacrificed ‘for the greater good.’ However, these claims have never been proven.

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After the war Coventry city centre was rebuilt, with modern architecture covering most of what remained. However, there are still little pockets of history hidden away, and Ford’s Hospital is one of them.

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Built in 1509 as an almshouse for women, the hospital was badly damaged during the 1940’s blitz. Restored in the 1950’s, it is now seen as one of the finest examples of its type in the UK. When attempting to rebuild Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, the designers came to Ford’s Hospital to understand Elizabethan doorways (thanks, Wikipedia!).

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So on a recent trip home, I went for a wander through the town centre, taking the alleyway down by what was once Habitat and is now just a shop selling tat, to find myself outside the hospital. It’s still in use, a modern (and fairly sympathetic) extension extending the original living quarters. The little garden on the side was green and well-tended, while Christmas lights sparkled in the ancient inner courtyard. And I took these photos, to share with you.

Thanks for joining me on another Wednesday Wander! 🙂

Thursday Doors – Commit No Nuisance

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My door this week comes from St Albans. It’s the entrance to the medieval clock tower, the only remaining example of its kind in England. Built in the early 1400’s, the tower is four storeys tall and built of local flint and stone. At this time of year, fairy lights twinkle in the former ground floor shop window, while sparkling icicles dance along the castellated roofline. Yet all year round it is a meeting point – a focal point of the ancient town founded by Romans so long ago.

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I particularly love this door, because of both its obvious age and the writing on it. The door itself is quite small, about five feet or a metre and a half tall, and faces a pub almost equally as ancient, where the King of France was briefly held prisoner many centuries ago. I imagine the sign was written as a more modern reminder to pub patrons as they are released into the night – not sure how many of them would actually take the time to read it though 🙂

For more Thursday Doors, visit Norm 2.0 and click the links. Or add a door of your own!