This 14th-century Parisian village is still standing in Prague

Created for the TV series Knightfall, this medieval village at Prague's Barrandov Studios is still being used for other productions

Jason Pirodsky

Written by Jason Pirodsky Published on 03.01.2021 12:01:00 (updated on 04.01.2021) Reading time: 2 minutes

A 14th century Parisian village created in Prague's Barrandov Studio for the History Channel TV series Knightfall is still standing in the studio backlot - and additional productions continue to make use of it.

The expansive medieval village first made headlines in 2016, when it went up in flames for an estimated 100 million crowns in damages during production of Knightfall's first season. But in just two months, 150 Barrandov technicians and craftsmen had recreated the entire set.

Like many film sets, most of the buildings throughout the village are wooden facades. But some also provide interior locations, including a shop, stables, and even a chapel.

Medieval village set via Facebook / Barrandov Studio
Medieval village set via Facebook / Barrandov Studio

"Behind the walls of the houses there is only a wooden skeleton, it is a classic Potemkin village where the supporting structure is anchored to concrete feet," Andrzej Niedoba, head of Barrandov Studio's set construction unit, recently told iDnes.cz.

"The advantage of this is that it can be easily manipulated, it can be built in, we can modify the facades of buildings.”

Following the cancellation of Knightfall in early 2020, Barrandov decided not to tear the set down or let it go to waste. The studio now offers an extensive pre-built medieval village to incoming productions filming in the Czech Republic.

Medieval village set via Facebook / Barrandov Studio
Medieval village set via Facebook / Barrandov Studio

One of those productions was Amazon's Carnival Row, starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne, which made use of the set during the filming of its second season in late 2019 and early 2020.

AGENCY PROPERTIES

Apartment for rent, 1+1 - Studio, 44m<sup>2</sup>

Apartment for rent, 1+1 - Studio, 44m2

Čimická, Praha 8 - Kobylisy

Parking space for rent, 15m<sup>2</sup>

Parking space for rent, 15m2

Ovenecká, Praha 7 - Bubeneč

Apartment for rent, 2+1 - 1 bedroom, 75m<sup>2</sup>

Apartment for rent, 2+1 - 1 bedroom, 75m2

Dejvická, Praha 6 - Dejvice

During the filming of its first two seasons, Carnival Row has become the most expensive foreign production to ever shoot in Prague.

"This is probably the most important exterior building that was ever built in Barrandov. And for an unfortunate reason, because in 2016 there was a big fire and the entire original set was destroyed," says Niedoba.

The Barrandov Studios backlot spans a total area of 160,000 square meters. The medieval village set measures about 150x100 meters, with many of the buildings within it over 10 meters tall.

Want to check out the medieval village for yourself? Tours of Barrandov Studio are currently limited to to COVID-19 restrictions, but should open up again in the near future. Access may be limited based on projects in production, so confirm available locations in advance.

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