Where was Emerald City Filmed? Filming Locations Guide

Posted by

The NBC series was described as a dark version of The Wizard of Oz combined with Game of Thrones.

The producers spent a good slice of the budget traveling to multiple locations across different European countries, as did HBO's hit series.

Emerald City was primarily filmed in Spain, Croatia, and Hungary.

Where was Emerald City Filmed

The story starts when quite a grown-up Dorothy from Kansas is caught in a storm, ending up in a parallel kingdom of sex, magic, and violent knights.

The cast is led by Adria Arjona, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, and Vincent D'Onofrio.

The show is a visually gorgeous trip to magnificent filming locations, accompanied by some interesting Steampunk stuff and Art Nouveau designs. No spoilers ahead!

Emerald City Barcelona
The Palace of the Wizard of Oz has an organic air that recalls the architecture of Antoni Gaudí, the genius who created the Sagrada Família temple in Barcelona.

The Park Güell, heavily featured in the series as the Palace of Oz, is also a design from the same Catalan architect.
Image courtesy of NBC


Emerald City Filming Locations
If you've been here you can't forget the unique look of this popular tourist attraction of Barcelona.
Images courtesy of NBC, Jean-Christophe Benoist, and Angela Llop


City NBC Design
Eye for detail: Emerald City art is inspired by Gaudi's work, like the hilt of Lucas's sword.

On the right, the chimney sentinels of La Pedrera house, also in Barcelona.
Image courtesy of NBC and Marc Cornelis


Alcázar of Seville
The next sets and outdoors are located in the south of Spain. Pictured, the Alcázar of Seville, of Moorish origin, served also as a filming location for Game of Thrones from season 5.
Image courtesy of NBC and Archigeek


Emerald City Palace
The Baths of Lady María de Padilla, situated beneath this complex, is where Dorothy goes for purification.

This location was also featured as a section of the Warrior Nun city.
Image courtesy of NBC and QX L


Calahorra Castle scene
Outside, the palace of the Witch of the East is the Calahorra Castle in the province of Granada.
Image courtesy of NBC and Stephane Seco


The yellow brick road
The yellow (brick?) road goes across the impressive karst landscapes of El Torcal in Antequera (Málaga).
Image courtesy of NBC and Goya Fotografia


:
The Beach shoot
A scene from the third episode was filmed on the beach in the Cabo de Gata National Park, Almería.
Image courtesy of NBC


Stone house witch
Troglodyte cave dwellings in Guadix (Granada) from the second episode.
Image courtesy of NBC and Emanuele


Dubrovnik scenery
Now we move to the wonderful Adriatic coast in Croatia. The city of Oz is inspired by Dubrovnik.
Image courtesy of NBC


Witch sanctuary Dubrovnik
The Witch's sanctuary looks very much like the monumental Onofrio's Fountain (at the right).

However, Emerald City was not filmed in Dubrovnik: The production team built almost a whole city in the studios, along with amazingly detailed sets.
Image courtesy of NBC and Jimmy Harris


Lakes landscape
Some characters go through the superb scenery of Plitvice Lakes National Park in central Croatia.
Image courtesy of NBC and Carlo Columba


Emerald City Drehort
Hundreds of tourists explore every day these paths surrounded by hanging waterfalls.

All the info and many more pictures from this Balkanic wonder, one of the most beautiful parks in the world, can be found following this link.
Image by Tomislav Car


Emerald City Budapest
The industrious city of Ev is inspired by Budapest. We can easily recognize many elements from the Hungarian capital, like the Parliament building, the Chain Bridge, or the covered passages with glass roofs.
Image courtesy of NBC


Ev Kingdom
The Budapest Castle Hill Funicular was used for some external shots representing the Palace of Ev.
Image courtesy of NBC


The Palace hall
The Ev palace interior was filmed at the Ethnographic Museum of Budapest.

Founded as part of the Hungarian National Museum in 1872, this cultural space in the heart of the city hosts a large collection of Hungarian folk objects.

In this awesome hall is where was also filmed the Shadow and Bone 2021 Netflix series.


Wenckheim Palace
However, the bedchamber of the Princess seems to be the reception hall in the Wenckheim Palace (The Ervin Szabó Library), also in Budapest.

The palace was used in another scene featuring a beautiful room with a spiral staircase.
Image courtesy of NBC


Schossberger Castle
The snowed mansion from episode four is the abandoned Schossberger Castle from 1883 in Tura, Hungary.

The metallic bridge from the previous scene is the K-Bridge connecting Budapest and Hajógyári Island, also known as Óbudai-Sziget. Here is where the famous music festival takes place.
Image courtesy of NBC and Torobala


Studios in Hungary
Emerald City was shot at the Korda Studios facility in Etyek, near Budapest.

NOTICE: If you’re using this information on your website, please credit and link to this page as a source.
*****

19 comments
  1. where is the gallery of the episode 1.03 wher go Tip? some place in france? thanks

    ReplyDelete
  2. The final pic in this series looks like the mall in Milan near the domo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, the famous gallery Vittorio Emanuele, but we don't think that EC was filmed there.

      Delete
  3. The castle in the 4th episode with orphans is located in my home town Tura, Hungary. The name is
    Schossberger Castle.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tura,_Hungary

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi, the bridge Tip tries to jump from is the K Bridge in Budapest, probably familiar to anyone who ever visited the Sziget Festival :) http://wikimapia.org/121081/K-Bridge
    I'm pretty sure the scene where Jack is taken in front of the Princess (when he has to climb all those steps) was also shot in a palace somewhere in Budapest, the architecture is very characteristic.
    The gallery is not in Budapest, I think. There is only one similar building here, but it's smaller and doesn't really look the same (Google 'Párisi udvar').

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Juci, very interesting. Párisi Udvar is a wondrous building, by the way.

      Delete
  5. I was confused between the Alhambra palace in Granada and the Alacazar in Seville - since I just visited both those places last year and you cleared the confusion up! :D Thanks for this post.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Calahorra is province La Rioja, not Granada...error geografic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for your comment, but La Calahorra Castle in Granada has not to be confused with the town of Calahorra in La Rioja.

      Delete
  7. episode 1x07 the Budapest Castle Funicular apears as the acess to the princess castle!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Episode 1-7
    Princess Castle also look like Château Frontenac in Canada. In the back oh the hotel where the funicular take you down

    ReplyDelete
  9. Where were the Kansas scenes filmed? That farmhouse. Was that in Europe too?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it was recreated in Spain

      Delete
    2. The farmhouse was built just outside the town of Carmona (Sevilla), as well as some road driving scene (Dorothy driving pickup + tornado)

      Delete
  10. Hi, I'm pretty sure the princess's bedchamber scenes were shot in the Reception Hall of the Wenckheim Palace in Budapest (which is part of the Szabó Ervin Library). Check out the mirrors in the corner, for instance: http://www.szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu/a-csodaszep-palota-amelynek-regenybe-illo-tortenete-van/. It is a reading room in everyday life :)
    There is another part of the palace featured in the series: the library room with the spiral staircase where Jane confronts Frank (if I recall correctly) is the Philosophical Reading Room of the same library (see the last picture in the link above).
    I have spent so many hours in this library staring numbly at the paneling and ceiling decoration, trying to cram more knowledge in my head that I recognised these locations immediately :D EC is a great show, I hope it gets renewed!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks again Juci, you're right! It's curious that the design of the decoration of Festetics Palace is also very similar to that room from Wenckheim Palace.

      Delete
    2. It is indeed. Although the Festetics Palace was built almost 150 years earlier, its last redesign came about at the same time the Wenckheim Palace was built. This must have been the hottest look in interior design in 1887 :)

      Delete

All comments are reviewed prior to publication