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In the footsteps of The Witcher's filming locations
The Witcher: books, video games and a series
The Witcher is a literary series created by Andrzej Sapkowski in 1990. This saga follows the adventures of Geralt de Riv, a powerful monster-hunting sorcerer, prey to countless evil creatures from certain Slavic and Polish folklore.
If this series was declined in comic books, as well as in feature films that went almost unnoticed in the 2000s, the most famous adaptation is the one of video games. Released in 2007, The Witcher, developed by CD Projekt Studios and published by Atari, was a resounding success. The title was ranked in the top 100 best-selling PC games of all time.
The two sequels of these same video games were very popular when they were released respectively in 2011, with The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, and in 2015 with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. This last opus received a lot of praise and was a real commercial success with nearly 20 million copies sold in 4 years.
With the release of the series, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt saw a spike in traffic on December 29, 2019 on the popular Steam platform. Nearly 95,000 players were connected simultaneously. In addition, there was an upsurge in activity following the release of the fiction produced by Netflix on December 20, 2019.
The Witcher : the locations of the series
Stregobor Garden
Geralt de Riv (Henry Cavill) is looking for the Wizard of Blaviken. He is led by a young girl to the house of Stregobor (Lars Mikkelsen) who offers him a job, that of killing Renfri (Emma Appleton). Geralt refuses and leaves. These two characters can be seen discussing in a sublime garden surrounded by colonnades, populated by naked young women, with a small basin enthroned in its centre. These gardens are those of the Jaki Chapel in Budapest. The huge building complex was consecrated in 1256 and is still richly decorated with sumptuous motifs and many elements from that period.
Address: Jaki Chapel, Budapest, Hungary
Fortress of Cintra
Bound by destiny to Geralt de Riv, Ciri (Freya Allan), a young princess with extraordinary and mysterious gifts, resides in Cintra protected by her grandmother, Queen Calanthe (Jodhi May). The almost impregnable fortress of Cintra is actually Fort Monostor. Built between 1850 and 1871, it is considered to be the largest Central European fortress in modern history. Covering more than 25 hectares, the building has 640 rooms that can accommodate nearly 8,000 soldiers and has a network of tunnels several kilometres long. After serving in many conflicts including the two World Wars, a group of the Red Army South used the building to store ammunition. In 1991, at the end of the Cold War, the fort lost its military function. Today it can be visited as a historic building.
Address: fort Monostor, Komárom, Duna-part Monostori Erőd, 1, Hungary
Aretuza’s magic academy
The magical academy of Aretuza, where Yennefer (Anya Chalotra), Fringilla (Mimi Ndiweni) and many other witches resided, is located on the coast near Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The Tower of the Seagull, the most powerful place on the Continent, is located on the Roque de Santo Domingo, a tiny rock off the coast. The huge building was digitally added to the montage.
Address: Roque de Santo Domingo, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Village of Yennefer
Yennefer, then humiliated and mocked by his peers, appears for the first time in a barn in this village. This one is visible a second time when Ciri flees the war. This small hamlet is actually a Hungarian open-air museum that aims to show the public the ways of life of yesteryear. Founded in 1967, it covers more than 46 hectares.
Address: Szabadtéri Néprajzi Múzeum, Szentendre, Hungary
Temeria Castle
Terrorized by a monster, the kingdom of Temeria asks the Sorcerer to kill the beast. Convinced that she is actually a person with a spell, Geralt decides to fight all night to save her. He goes to this abandoned castle to fight a battle. This one is actually Kreuzenstein Castle. A fortress has existed on its site since 1115, as attested by some documents of the time. Partially destroyed in 1645, it was rebuilt on these old foundations between 1874 and 1907. Heavily damaged during the Second World War, it was completely restored, contrary to what can be seen on the screen.
Address: Burg Kreuzenstein, Leobendorf, Austria
Aretuza Witch’s Ball
The future female magicians of the kingdoms are presented to the rulers during an important “ceremony”. Yennefer manages to break in despite the ban on Tissaia (MyAnna Buring). In fact, this evening is being held at the Kiscelli Museum in Budapest. This museum, housed in a former monastery, presents the history of Budapest and its inhabitants from the 18th to the 21st century.
Address: Kiscelli Muzeum, Budapest, Kiscelli u. 108, Hungary
House of the Mayor of Rinde
Locked up by the mayor of Rinde, Yennefer manages to take control of the minds of the occupants of the place but also of part of the population. There she organized a great orgy and met, on this occasion, the famous Geralt de Riv. A little later, the house is destroyed by a Djinn, a genius that Yennefer tries to absorb. The building is actually the Tata Castle, built in the middle of the 14th century on the shore of Lake Öreg. Originally the king’s seaside resort, the residence was destroyed by the Habsburgs and then renovated. Today it is possible to visit the gardens and the interior museum.
Address: Tata Castle, Tata, Váralja u. 3, Hungary
Battle of Sodden
The great battle of Sodden in the last episode of season 1 takes place in the ruins of the Ogrodzieniec castle. Although the locations are particularly splendid, the production was keen to film this important scene in Poland, the birthplace of the author of the literary series. This ruined building built in the 14th century is open to visitors and was regularly used for Polish films but also for the video Behind the Iron Curtain by the band Iron Maiden for the Hallowed Be Thy Name video.
Address: Ogrodzieniec Castle, Zamkowa, 42-440 Podzamcze, Poland
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By Damien Duarte
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