Cathedral of Girona Steps - Great Sept of Baelor, Girona
Girona Cathedral鈥攆ormally the Cathedral of Saint Mary鈥攄oesn鈥檛 so much sit in the Old Town as loom over it from the top of ninety-one unforgiving steps. Those steps are a spectacle in themselves: a grand Baroque staircase that demands good shoes and maybe a quick pause to catch your breath halfway up. But the climb pays off, because at the top stands a building that took seven centuries to finish, mixing Romanesque solidity with Gothic ambition, crowned by the widest Gothic nave on Earth鈥攏early twenty-three meters across.
That colossal nave and the cathedral鈥檚 imposing exterior made it irresistible to movie location scouts. In season six of Game of Thrones, the cathedral masqueraded as the Great Sept of Baelor. The monumental staircase became the stage for Jaime Lannister鈥檚 tense standoff with the High Sparrow, complete with 200 extras, armies of Tyrell soldiers, and, yes, a horse specially trained to trot up the stone steps. For viewers, the scene looked like the height of medieval grit; for locals, it was Tuesday in front of the cathedral鈥攑lus a few cameras and a lot of armor.
The cathedral cameoed again in the finale of the season, though this time in less flattering fashion鈥攐bliterated in Cersei鈥檚 fiery coup. Of course, Girona鈥檚 most famous church is still very much intact; the explosion was pure special effects. Today, the staircase that once rang with sparrows and Lannisters is back to its old rhythm: tourists puffing their way up, locals ducking around them, and the cathedral presiding over it all with the quiet confidence that has outlasted more than one empire鈥攔eal and fictional.
That colossal nave and the cathedral鈥檚 imposing exterior made it irresistible to movie location scouts. In season six of Game of Thrones, the cathedral masqueraded as the Great Sept of Baelor. The monumental staircase became the stage for Jaime Lannister鈥檚 tense standoff with the High Sparrow, complete with 200 extras, armies of Tyrell soldiers, and, yes, a horse specially trained to trot up the stone steps. For viewers, the scene looked like the height of medieval grit; for locals, it was Tuesday in front of the cathedral鈥攑lus a few cameras and a lot of armor.
The cathedral cameoed again in the finale of the season, though this time in less flattering fashion鈥攐bliterated in Cersei鈥檚 fiery coup. Of course, Girona鈥檚 most famous church is still very much intact; the explosion was pure special effects. Today, the staircase that once rang with sparrows and Lannisters is back to its old rhythm: tourists puffing their way up, locals ducking around them, and the cathedral presiding over it all with the quiet confidence that has outlasted more than one empire鈥攔eal and fictional.
Want to visit this sight? Check out these Self-Guided Walking Tours in Girona. Alternatively, you can download the mobile app "黑料吃瓜网: Walks in 1K+ Cities" from Apple App Store or Google Play Store. The app turns your mobile device to a personal tour guide and it works offline, so no data plan is needed when traveling abroad.
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Cathedral of Girona Steps - Great Sept of Baelor on Map
Sight Name: Cathedral of Girona Steps - Great Sept of Baelor
Sight Location: Girona, Spain (See walking tours in Girona)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:
Sight Location: Girona, Spain (See walking tours in Girona)
Sight Type: Attraction/Landmark
Guide(s) Containing This Sight:
Walking Tours in Girona, Spain
Create Your Own Walk in Girona
Creating your own self-guided walk in Girona is easy and fun. Choose the city attractions that you want to see and a walk route map will be created just for you. You can even set your hotel as the start point of the walk.
Girona Introduction Walking Tour
Girona sits in northeastern Catalonia, where every cobblestone seems to gossip about old allegiances and bitter defeats. Long before tourist maps and cafe terraces, Iberian tribes pitched up here in the 6th century BC. The Romans soon followed, stamping the place with the name Gerunda鈥斺�渘ear the river鈥濃�攁 practical nod to the Onyar River, which still slices the city neatly into old and new.
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Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.4 Km or 1.5 Miles
... view more
Tour Duration: 2 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 2.4 Km or 1.5 Miles
Game of Thrones Film Sites in Girona
Let鈥檚 do a visualization exercise: Girona鈥檚 medieval quarter, with its stone staircases and cloistered courtyards, suddenly posing as Westeros. Between 2011 and 2019, HBO鈥檚 Game of Thrones roamed Europe in search of backdrops, and Girona ticked all the boxes鈥擱omanesque towers, Gothic facades, and narrow alleys that looked like they鈥檇 been waiting centuries for a camera crew. The city... view more
Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 0.8 Km or 0.5 Miles
Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 0.8 Km or 0.5 Miles