Winter has come to Dubrovnik! The most popular series of all time is filming in Dubrovnik again - Game of Thrones – and there were a few surprises on the streets of Dubrovnik today.

Filming started yesterday and three of the main stars were in the city, Lena Headey, or Cersei Lannister, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, or Jamie Lannister, and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, better known as Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane.

Today the filming continued in the historic Old City with a set built in front of the Dominican Monastery and a snow machine was used to bring winter to Dubrovnik, or King’s Landing. The snow machine brought a cooler feel as the seventh season of Game of Thrones is nicknamed “Winter is Here.”

Filming in Dubrovnik finishes tomorrow, but it is rumoured that the main stars have left the city, so it could be another day of snow machine filming.

The largest ever film production in Croatian history ''Robin Hood:Origins'', which will be filmed in Dubrovnik and is produced by Leonardo DiCaprio is the centre of attention of the movie world. As the set grows bigger and bigger in Dubrovnik, news just keep coming. 

It seems that Ben Mendelsohn will be the Sheriff of Nottingham! According to Variety, this Emmy award winning actor and villain from Rouge One: A Star Wars Story is negotiations for this role. If all goes well, he will be a part of the famous cast: Taron Egerton, who will play Robin Hood, Jamie Foxx as Little John, Eve Hewson as Maid Marian and ladies favourite – Jamie Dornan, famous as Mr. Grey from Fifty Shades of Grey, as Will Scarlett, Robin Hood's half-brother.

And this Robin Hood will not be a typical one, according to the main star Targon Egerton, who gave interview for Collider few days ago.

- It’s a real reimagining; it’s not really very recognizable as Robin Hood. Robin Hood has a reputation for being quite clean and wholesome, aside from Alan Rickman’s amazing performance in the Kevin Costner version, but it’s tights and thigh-slapping and merry men – explains Egerton, adding that this movie will be kind of dark and gritty and a very funny version of the story.

-There’s no singing and riding through the glen in this; it’s a real war movie. Quite an anti-establishment war movie, I would say. It’s dark. And Robin’s not perfect in it either, which is what I like about it. He’s not a classic hero, he makes mistakes – explains Egerton. Watch the interview here.

Nottingham is slowly, but surely coming to Dubrovnik and the set is taking its shape. So far the confirmed filming locations include a part of Stradun, City Port, the street of St. Dominic and the area under the bridge at Ploce. Shooting will take place during three weeks in February and March.

Even though some fans could not guess where the famous actor from the Game of Thrones TV series was, loyal citizens of Zagreb recognized their beloved city instantly on photos on the actor's Instagram profile and welcomed Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Zagreb.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau also known as Jaime Lannister in the HBO series Game of Thrones was enjoying in the Christmas atmosphere in ''The Best Christmas Market'' in Europe. The actor made a collage of photos with Zagreb motives and posted them on his Instagram profile with the description: ''Quiz time. Where am I?''

Apart from soaking up the festive atmosphere, media suggested that Coster-Waldau was in the Croatian capital filming the new BBC series McMafia and that he would be visiting Dubrovnik for three-days filming of the seventh season of the mega popular series Games of Thrones.

And yesterday, true to his word, he arrived in Dubrovnik along with fellow Game of Thrones actors Lena Headey and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. The trio filmed in the historic Old City of Dubrovnik for the upcoming seventh season of the popular HBO serial.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Dubrovnik - Photo Ivana Smilovic 

The Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau who became widely known to a broad audience for his current role as Ser Jaime Lannister was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television for his role as Jaime Lannister, as well as for the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and for the People Choice Awards Favourite TV Anti-Hero for his performance in the show’s third season.

A photo posted by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (@nikolajwilliamcw) on Dec 13, 2016 at 9:02am PST

The beautiful island of Korcula has been a real celebrity in the recent video posted on Youtube. Drone footage shows this island from every corner and it's really stunning. Korcula, combined with sea and sun looks almost surreal. 

Drone Pilot: Jadranko Silic
Cinematography by Jadranko Silic
Additional Cinematography by Christian Kennedy, Julian Robins
Edited by Christian Kennedy

The capital of Croatia has once again been selected as ''The Best Christmas Market'' in Europe!

For the second year in a row Zagreb has won the prestigious title among the 21 ''must see'' European Christmas Markets such as Brussels, Budapest, Dresden, Vienna, Prague, Manchester, London etc. The competition was organized by the European Best Destinations website, the first website dedicated to the promotion of tourism in Europe.
Travellers from all around the world had a chance to vote for their favourite Christmas Market in Europe.

The competition gathered 188,648 votes from 124 different countries (79 percent of votes were from Europe, whilst 21 percent accounted for voters outside Europe). Interestingly, amongst so many votes, three of them came from Jamaica for Dresden, Zagreb and Vienna, one vote from Antartica for Zagreb, whilst one vote came from Cape Verde for Brussels.

The voting page was shared more than 129,000 times on social networks, whilst the competition was mentioned in 240 press articles throughout the world.

‘’Voted two times in a row "European Best Christmas Market", the capital of Croatia is for sure the best destination to celebrate Christmas in Europe. During this time of year the magic is everywhere in Zagreb. Come and see for yourself why is the Croatian capital visited by an increasing numbers of tourists during the time of Advent; get to know its idyllic side and partake in themed programmes which take place on the streets and squares around the city centre’’, said from the European Best Destinations website.

Since 2009, the European Best Destinations website has promoted culture and tourism in Europe to millions of travellers, but also to tourism professionals and the media in partnership with more than 300 European tourist offices and the EDEN Network created by the European Commission.

Here is the list of the Top 20 Best Christmas Markets in Europe 2017 by votes:

1. Zagreb (33,607)
2. Strasbourg (19,242)
3. Colmar (13,394)
4. Aachen (11,696)
5. Vienna (11,130)
6. Dresden (10,564)
7. Tallinn (10,187)
8. Prague (9,988)
9. Budapest (9,810)
10. Brussels (9,432)
11. Graz (9,055)
12. Cologne (8,678)
13. Metz (6,414)
14. Madeira (5,848)
15. Leipzig (5,471)
16. Nuremberg (3,584)
17. Rothenburg (3,396)
18. Lille (2,264)
19. Helsinki (2,075)
20. Manchester (1,320).

Game of Thrones is back in Dubrovnik! Although it was believed that the seventh season of the globally popular HBO serial would bypass Dubrovnik this year it seems that Game of Thrones can’t live without Dubrovnik.

Three of the main stars of the serial Lena Headey, or Cersei Lannister, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, or Jamie Lannister, and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, better known as Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane all apperead on the Dubrovnik set today, and it is rumoured that filming will last for three days.

Game of Thrones looked certain to bypass Dubrovnik in season seven. The HBO series has already started filming in Northern Ireland and Seville in Spain but Dubrovnik was thought to be still off the radar for this year. Now it would seem that Kings Landing is needed in the penultimate season of Game of Thrones.

Filming today took place on the famous Dubrovnik city walls.

Photos are the property of The Dubrovnik Times 

Christmas fairytale is coming to Stradun this weekend, on Saturday at 10:30 a.m., in front of St.Blasius Church. This Christmas programme is organized by Dubrovnik Tourist Board and City of Dubrovnik and will bring joy to children and to adults too.

Theatre group "Kolarin" children thrill children with Christmas show "Christmas magic recipe", Children's Choir Dubrovnik will present several versions of traditional carols form the various parts of the Dubrovnik region and Christmas songs and Dnace Studio Lazareti, trio of elves Ad libitum and Le Petit Festival will take care for good atmosphere and dance. Song, dance and entertainment will rule the city with gifts for the youngest that will be shared by Santa Claus – not one, but four of them!

Christmas carols in Dubrovnik have a special place in the festive spirit of the city. These traditional Christmas carols, known as Kolende, have a long and rich history. The tradition of singing “Kolende” in Dubrovnik is believed to stretch back to the 13th century and is still alive today. Singers go from home to home and celebrate Christmas Eve, as well as Christmas day and New Year. Usually the singers take instruments, such as guitars, harmonica and mandolin, with them.

And throughout the Christmas and New Year period in Dubrovnik these singers are performing on a regular basis next to the festive wooden Christmas stands, on the Stradun, on Pile and on the Gundulic Square. The history of carols dates back far into the past, and the oldest written evidence can be found in the 13th century within the Statute of the Dubrovnik Republic from 1272. In these writings Christmas Eve is mentioned, when sailors from the Republic would enter the Rectors Palace in the Old City and sing to the Rector. The New Year singing is also mentioned in the Dubrovnik Statute, with local business men, including butchers, fishermen and bakers would sing again to the Rector and welcome in the New Year.

Kolende alive and well today in Dubrovnik

Today this ancient custom is still alive and well, especially in the historic Old City of Dubrovnik, with groups of singers going from house to house singing the carols. It is normal for the home owner to invite the groups into their home and treat them with festive delights such as dried figs, oranges, carol, desserts, juices, wine, brandy, and in recent times and money.

The lyrics to Kolende are based around Dubrovnik, with parts of the city mentioned and even street names and the patron saint – St. Blaise. You can join in the festive fun along the Stradun as the Dubrovnik vocal group “Kase” is performing regularly through the Dubrovnik Winter Festival this year.