Blurring The Boundaries Between Fiction and Reality
A trip to Europe where the focus lies on its behind-the-scenes value in beloved franchises.
Originally written in December 4, 2020. The actual traveling took place the year prior.
Improvisation is not something that is expected of a trip to Europe, but it more or less was what my trip consisted of. After crossing an entire ocean, and dealing with jet lag, I researched some places that interested me. Since I landed in Spain first, I realized I was a train away from… well, any place in Europe really. But the place that stood out to me was the Royal Alcazar of Seville.
The city appears as though it were perpetually under the sun, with hues of yellow in just about every corner. The palace was no exception, and had a little bit of everything. It had Islamic art from its inception, gothic architecture, and renaissance and baroque elements. Each element tells a story about the conflict between the caliphates and Spain. Each arch I walked by made me feel smaller when comparing the towering size of the palace roof, and the patterns in the tiles had stories. Their ornate patterns and elaborate gardens make any tourist feel as though they were walking through history.
But my mind was focused on a different story.
Dorne, a fictional world from the Game Of Thrones franchise, was not only based off of the Moorish history of Spain. Its scenes in the show were recorded in the Royal Alcazar of Seville. When asked about the inspiration for Dorne, the creator of the series, George R.R. Martin says, “So the Dornish have their own particular sort of customs. I see that in Spain with the whole history, particularly the Moorish history of Spain.”
The Royal Alcazar of Seville offered a tour, which I took, and while I had the headsets on listening to the background of the actual palace, I could also see the scenes play out. While walking through the gardens, I was reminded of when the fate of an entire realm was being discussed. The gray, metal chairs where Lady Olenna once sit were at an elevated spot where well-kept gardens surrounded them.
It was not just a small garden; similar to Dorne, Seville was full of orange trees just about everywhere. The gardens were full of mazes with fountains, bushes and flora ran abound. Something that I was full of, and should not have been, was clothes. The cold from Madrid dissipated after taking the train to Seville, and the midday sun proved similar to the one of the Dornish deserts.
Once I finished walking through where cameras once shot, and Moors fought Spaniards, I got out of the palace and took a cab to the Plaza de España. The color scheme is similar, but the buildings are distinctly “sharp” and assimilate elements of Hispanic culture. Bridges connect a semicircle at the center to broad hallways that could fit an entire village, but alas they did fit about 50 locals sometime at the end of the year 2000 when shooting a scene of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.
The characters are on a planet called Naboo, which is well known for being bountiful and rich in resources. Queen Padme Amidala walks in front of the fountain with Anakin Skywalker, the buildings appear as if they embrace the fountain with the bridges. And this is not a mistake; it is said that when being designed by Aníbal González, the Plaza de España was meant to symbolize Spain coming to terms with the independence of the Americas and the status quo of the world.
Naboo, at the time in which Attack of the Clones takes place, is recognized for being peaceful. Parallels between Naboo and Spain can be found, since both places have a monarch, are known for their resources (at the time), both have some parliamentary system (Naboo has the Senate, while Spain has a democracy and a soberany), and they are surrounded by water. This last point is particularly important to Naboo, since its native species thrive on water.
In the rivers, I did not see a single Gungan when visiting Naboo, sadly. But the scene was ingrained in my mind, and when walking near the fountain I could imagine following Padme, Anakin and R2D2 the droid. The shooting of a Star Wars film in such a large place was quite a feat in itself; despite the cast only being there for forty-eight hours, the city was full of excitement in the dawn of the new millennium. Over seven thousand locals applied to be extras, and a lucky few got to make cameo appearances with actors like Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman.
After Seville, a plane and a car ride led me to the Forte di Bard. It is situated in the northern part of Italy, right along the Alps. And like the alps, the fortress has been here for quite some time. The history of Forte di Bard dates back to the Bronze Age, and figures such as Napoleon and Vittorio Amadeo II. Its location in the mountains was one of the reasons the fortress was attacked and caught up in wars.
Although very briefly, a group of heroes that faces conflict at a galactic scale, also graced the stone passages of Forte di Bard. In The Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Earth’s mightiest heroes faced HYDRA forces in the fictional land of Sokovia. Sokovia would become an important part of the plot, because after tragedy strikes the land and kills most of its inhabitants, it pushes world leaders to write the Sokovia Accords which would limit when and where the superheroes could use their powers.
Scattered throughout the fortress are life-sized statues of The Avengers to commemorate the filming of Sokovia that took place. Posters in multiple languages explain that Forte di Bard is where many Sokovia scenes were recorded. Naturally, this form of tourism began after the release of the film. Prior to that, we can see remnants of what drew tourists to the palace-turned-stronghold; millennia of history that is replicated in the museum exhibitions annexed to the fortress, the many battles it went through from the dawn of the Romans to modern history, its reconstruction and the flora and fauna found exclusively in the Alps surrounding the fort.
While I may have seen three worlds in just two locations, of those it was Forte di Bard that perhaps took advantage of a new wave of tourism the best. Whilst the Real Alcázar de Sevilla had tours centered around its history, and Plaza de España would have gone unnoticed had I not looked it up, Forte di Bard has replicas of what life used to be like in the area from the Bronze Age to its modern history while also explaining where and when the film shooting occurred. With how mainstream comics and “geek culture” has become over the last thirty years or so, it will not surprise me if other areas where a pop culture phenomenon was shot begin to use films as a means to increase tourism. What one must never forget is the real history behind these places; yes, I went to Sokovia but I also learned about the ecosystem of the Alps and how the Forte di Bard came to be the stronghold I walked in. Yes, I may have gone to Dorne, but I also went to the Real Alcázar de Sevilla where the Moors built the palace and defended it for as long as they could until it became a reflection of the new Spain; elements of Islam, Renaissance, and other movements combined. And while I did stop by Naboo, it would be a mistake to forget the motive behind the creation of the Plaza de España. Fiction must never erase reality.
