Seville has been pretending to be somewhere else for more than sixty years. In 1962 it played Cairo and a captured Middle Eastern city for Lawrence of Arabia. For Star Wars, it became a city on the planet Naboo. Hollywood chased cars through its old streets for Knight and Day. And for Game of Thrones it became two kingdoms at once: the water palace of Dorne, and the dark vaults under the Red Keep in King's Landing, where the dragon skulls are kept. This walk follows that screen career roughly in order, from the plazas of the 1929 Expo, past the grand hotel and the Alcázar gate, through the chase streets, to the old royal shipyards near the river. At every stop you'll hear what was filmed, what it stood in for, and what is really there. Spoilers throughout. This is an unofficial walk, not made with or endorsed by any of the studios or HBO. It's one of our self-guided walking tours, about 3.4 kilometers from Plaza de América to the Royal Shipyards.

Before you set off

The walking takes about 47 minutes for 3.4 kilometers, so with the stories and time to look around, allow an hour and a half to two hours. It's flat all the way, through a park, wide plazas and the old center. Seville gets very hot, especially in summer, so go early or late in the day, carry water and use the shade of María Luisa Park at the start.

The nearest metro to the start is Prado de San Sebastián on line 1, roughly a kilometer away, so check the walk on your map. You finish in El Arenal, about 400 meters from the Puerta de Jerez metro stop, also on line 1.

If you want to go inside the Real Alcázar, buy your ticket online in advance, and check the prices and opening hours on the official site before you go, because they change with the season. The Royal Shipyards at the end have been restored, but check whether they're open to visitors before you plan to go in.

Plaza de América

You're in Plaza de América, at the southern end of María Luisa Park. Look around at the three ornate pavilions. Aníbal González designed this square for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition. The Mudéjar Pavilion holds the Museum of Popular Arts and Customs. The Renaissance Pavilion is the Archaeological Museum, which has been closed for renovation, so check before you plan a visit. The third is the Royal Pavilion. And you'll notice the pigeons. The square is famous for them.

This is where Seville's screen career began. In 1962 the director David Lean brought Lawrence of Arabia here. Lean needed Middle Eastern cities, and he found them in these Expo buildings. Location guides disagree about exactly which city this square played. One places a soldiers' parade here after Damascus is taken, with General Allenby arriving to find the Arabs occupying the city. Another calls these Jerusalem's civic buildings. So the safest way to put it is this: here, Seville played a captured Middle Eastern city.

Seville's own film guide says Lean's crew were struck that a single city could stand in for Cairo, Damascus and Jerusalem. That's the trick this whole walk is about. These buildings were made to show off Spain and the Americas in 1929, and they've been playing other places ever since.

Now walk north through María Luisa Park toward the two tall towers rising above the trees. That's Plaza de España, and it has played two very different worlds. About eleven minutes.

Plaza de España

You're in Plaza de España, the great semicircle that Aníbal González built for the same Exposition. It was finished in 1928. Look along the curve at the tiled benches, one for each province of Spain. In front of you is a canal about 515 meters long, with rowing boats, crossed by four bridges that stand for the old kingdoms of Spain. Two towers frame the whole thing. The city spent 9 million euros restoring it between 2007 and 2010, and it's free to walk in.

First, Lawrence of Arabia again. Here, this plaza played British Army headquarters in Cairo. A truck pulls up at the headquarters. The arcaded building played the officers' club, where Lawrence's companion is refused a drink.

Then, almost forty years later, Star Wars. In 2000, George Lucas's crew came here to film Attack of the Clones, released in 2002. The plaza became Theed, the capital city of Naboo, for the scenes of Anakin and Padmé arriving. The city guide says the scene was shot in just 48 hours. About 7,000 people turned up hoping to be extras, and only around 50 were chosen. And no, the plaza wasn't built for Star Wars, and Naboo wasn't filmed entirely here. Only these exterior shots of the city.

One more film. For The Dictator, in 2012, this became a dictator's presidential palace, with 1,500 extras. During the shoot, a real protest, banners and all, turned up outside the central building, the Capitanía General, the army's headquarters. Star Wars fans still hold a costumed parade here almost every year.

Now to a hotel with a Star Wars secret. Leave the plaza and head north-west to Calle San Fernando, the street that runs past the old tobacco factory, now the university, toward the Puerta de Jerez. The Hotel Alfonso XIII stands on that street. Use your map. About thirteen minutes.

Hotel Alfonso XIII

You're on Calle San Fernando, in front of the Hotel Alfonso XIII. Like the plazas, it was built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exposition. It's still a working luxury hotel, so you can admire the facade from the street, and go inside only as a guest or a visitor to the bar.

Here's a lovely story from the Star Wars shoot. According to the city's own film guide, the Star Wars star Natalie Portman checked in here under the name Sophie, so she could stay unnoticed. It's the only source for that story, but it comes from the city itself, and it's easy to picture: one of the most famous faces on the shoot, checking in as plain Sophie.

This hotel also played a part in Lawrence of Arabia. Remember the officers' club in Cairo, at Plaza de España? Its courtyard was filmed here, in the hotel's central court. That's where Lawrence explains his tactics to General Allenby. So one scene in Cairo was really two buildings in Seville, a walk apart. It's the same trick you'll see again and again on this walk: one doorway in one place, one room somewhere else.

Hotels like this one are part of why productions keep coming back. Seville can offer a palace, a plaza and a grand hotel within a few minutes of each other.

Next, a real palace that became a fantasy one. Head north toward the cathedral to Plaza del Triunfo, the square between the cathedral and the Alcázar. The Lion Gate is the entrance in the Alcázar's wall on that square. Use your map. About five minutes.