A Song of Ice and Fire Locations | Winterfell’s Godswood

Winterfell itself has been built around an ancient godswood. A godswood is usually a small wooded area enclosed by the castle walls throughout the Seven Kingdoms. It is primarily used as a place of worship by those who carry on the traditions of the First Men and pray to the Old Gods. When the First Men took up the Old Faith, they created godswoods, groves within their castles and villages where a single Weirwood known as a heart-tree, was planted so the gods could be worshipped. 

A Song of Ice and Fire Locations | The Twins

The Twins, sometimes known as The Crossing, is a castle in the Riverlands. It is the seat of House Frey, a vassal house of House Tully of Riverrun. It is located within the Riverlands. It consists of two near-identical towers and a fortified bridge over the Green Fork of the River Trident. The Twins represents the only crossing point over the Green Fork for hundreds of miles in either direction. It is a major barrier to travelers and merchants traveling from the North to the western Riverlands. It lies directly athwart the main route from Winterfell to Riverrun. Moving from one castle to the other whilst avoiding the Twins requires a lengthy detour hundreds of miles to the south or hazardously traversing the bogs and swamps of the Neck to the north.

A Song of Ice and Fire Locations | The Wall

The Wall is a massive wall over 800 feet and is made of ice, stretching 300 miles across the northern border of the Seven Kingdoms, separating it from the wild lands beyond and is regarded as one of the nine Wonders Made by Man. The Wall is defended and held by the Sworn Brothers of the Night’s Watch, who paroll and guard the castles from the Frostfangs Mountain range in the west to the Bay of Seals in the east.

A Song of Ice and Fire Locations | Harrenhal

Harrenhal is a great castle constructed before the War of Conquest, located in the Riverlands, on the north shore of the Gods Eye lake. It is the largest castle in the Seven Kingdoms. Since the War of Conquest, however, it has become a dark and ruinous place.

A Song of Ice and Fire Locations | Pyke

Pyke is an ancient stronghold and the cliff on which the castle was jutted by the sea from the rest of the island leaving the towers standing on set of small, barren stackss of rock, with jagged cliffs surrounding it. Providing no safe anchorage at Pyke, those who wish to travel here have to sail to a nearby Lordsport.

The towers are connected by swaying rope bridges. The keep its towers, walls and bridges were made of the same grey-black stone composing the rest of the island. In the thousands of years the keep has stood, it has become covered with green lichen and as much a part of the landscape. A curtain wall encloses the headland of fifty acres and the cliffs around the foot of the wide stone bridge which extended out to the largest islet. On the headland the stables and kennels are located. The livestock is kept here. The Great Keep, Kitchen Keep and the Bloody Keep each sit on their own islands. Towers and outbuildings are located on stacks beyond them, linked to each other by covered archways where the pillars stood close and by long, swaying walks of wood and rope when they did not.

A Song of Ice and Fire Locations | Dragonstone

Dragonstone is the name of the island located at the entrance to Blackwater Bay and the castle thereon, which was shaped from stone to look like dragons. Dragonstone was the original seat of House Targaryen in Westeros during the Valyrian Freehold, later serving as the seat of their heir apparent (“The Prince of Dragonstone”) after their conquest of the Seven Kingdoms. After Robert Baratheon overthrew the Targaryens, he gave the island to his brother Stannis, creating House Baratheon of Dragonstone.

A Song of Ice and Fire Locations | The Eyrie

The Eyrie is the ancient seat of House Arryn, one of the oldest lines of Andal nobility. It is situated in the Mountains of the Moon astride the peak known as the Giant’s Lance, several thousand feet above the valley floor below. It’s considered impregnable to attack. During winter years, the Arryns seek refuge against the cold at the base of the mountain in the Gates of the Moon.

A Song of Ice and Fire Locations | Winterfell

Winterfell is the ancestral castle and seat of power of House Stark and is considered to be the capital of the North. It is located in the center of the northern province of the Seven Kingdoms, on the Kingsroad that runs from King’s Landing to the Wall. It was built by Brandon the Builder over eight thousand years ago, with the help of giants. For most of recorded history Winterfell was the seat of House Stark, the Kings in the North and later as Wardens of The North, after King Torrhen Stark bent the knee to Aegon the Conqueror and his dragons. As the regional capital of the North, harvest festivities have been hosted in Winterfell for centuries.

A Song of Ice and Fire Locations | King’s Landing

King’s Landing is the capital of the Seven Kingdoms, located on the east coast of Westeros, overlooking Blackwater Bay. It is the site of the Iron Throne and the Red Keep, the seat of the King. The main city is surrounded by a wall, manned by the City Watch of King’s Landing, also known as the Gold Cloaks. Poorer smallfolk build shanty settlements outside the city. King’s Landing is extremely populous, but rather unsightly and dirty compared to other cities. The stench of the city’s waste can be smelled far beyond its walls. It is the principal harbor of the Seven Kingdoms, rivaled only by Oldtown.

A Song of Ice and Fire Locations | Qarth

Qarth is a vastly rich city on the eastern continent, home to warlocks and merchant princes. Situated in a central location, Qarth is a gateway of commerce and culture between the east and west, and the north and south. Brimming with wealth, the city’s architecture makes a grand display. It is nominally ruled by the Pureborn, however the powerful guilds Thirteen, Tourmaline Brotherhood and the Ancient Guild of Spicers all play attempt to play role in the governance of the city.