King's Landing

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King's Landing is the capital of Westeros and the Seven Kingdoms. It is situated on the Blackwater river on the spot where Aegon the Conqueror landed in Westeros to begin his conquest. The main city is surrounded by a wall, manned by the City Watch of King's Landing, also known as the Gold Cloaks. Within the walls, the city's natural landscape is dominated by three hills, named after Aegon and his two sisters, Visenya and Rhaenys. 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.[1]

History

Three hundred years ago, the area north of the Blackwater Rush was inhabited only by fisherfolk. It was here that Aegon the Conqueror had landed with his armies and begun the conquest of the Seven Kingdoms. He built the first holdfast on the highest hill.[2]

The Great Spring Sickness

During the Great Spring Sickness, King's Landing suffered greatly. So many inhabitants died so quickly that there was not enough time to bury them. Lord Bloodraven, Hand of the King, ordered that the dead be brought to the Dragonpit and that the Alchemists' Guild burn the corpses. Four in ten people died. Daeron II, Princes Valarr and Matarys Targaryen and the High Septon all died.[3]

The Red Keep

The royal castle, called the Red Keep, sits on Aegon's Hill. It has seven large drum-towers crowned with iron ramparts, a huge barbican, vaulted halls, covered bridges, barracks, dungeons and granaries behind curtain walls with archers' nests.x All of the buildings are made from pale, red stone. Construction had started under Aegon I and ended under Maegor I. Maegor had all of the people who had worked on the Keep executed upon its completion to guard the secrets of its construction.[4]

The Keep holds the Iron Throne, the seat of the monarch. Aegon commissioned the throne's construction from the swords of his defeated enemies. According to legend, he kept the blades sharp because he believed that no ruler should ever sit comfortably. Centuries later, kings still cut themselves on the throne.

The City

The city covers the north shore of the Blackwater, dotted with manses, arbors, granaries, brick storehouses, timbered inns, merchant stalls, taverns, graveyards and brothels. There is a fish market. Hundreds of quays can be found in the harbor. Between buildings the roads are broad, lined with trees and branching alleys and streets.[5] Just within the Mud Gate lies the three great trebuchets called the Three Whores, a new addition to the defence of the city.[6][7]

The slums of King's Landing are called Flea Bottom, where residents are so poor they regularly subsist on "bowls of brown", a mystery stew that can include the meat of rats and murder victims.

Great Sept of Baelor

The city also holds the Great Sept of Baelor, where the Most Devout convene with the High Septon. It is the holiest sept of the Seven. It is located on Visenya's Hill.

The Dragonpit

The Dragonpit was a huge dome, now collapsed that held the Targaryen dragons. Its bronze doors have not opened in more than a century.[8] It is found on Rhaenys's Hill. The Street of Sisters runs between it and the Great Sept of Baelor.

Guildhall of the Alchemists

The Guildhall of the Alchemists lies beneath Rhaenys's Hill, stretching right to the foot of Visenya's Hill, along the Street of Sisters. Beneath it is where the Alchemists create and store the wildfire.[9]

Flea Bottom

A down-trodden area of town. It has pot-shops along the alleys where one can get a 'bowl o' brown.' It has a stench of pigsties and stables, tanner's sheds mixed in the smell of winesinks and whorehouses.[10]

Streets

  • Coppersmith's Wynd
  • River Row

The Street of Sisters

The Street of Sisters lies near the foot of Visenya's Hill. One can find the Guildhall of the Alchemists upon it.[11] It runs between the hills of Rhaenys and Visenya, from which it gets its name.[12]

The Street of Steel

The Street of Steel begins at the market square beside the River Gate.[13] The street winds its way up a hill.

The Street of Flour

The bakeries are found along this street. Below the street lies a maze of twisting alleys and cross streets.[14]

The Street of Silk

The whorehouses are found on this street.[15]

Eel Alley

It is located on Visenya's Hill.[16]

Pigrun Alley

Pigrun Alley is enclosed by tall timber-and-stone buildings whose upper stories lean out over the street.[17]

Shadowblack Lane

It is a twisty lane that begins at the northern gate of the Red Keep winds its way down to the foot of Aegon's High Hill.[18][19]

Reeking Lane

A street full of apprentices.[20]

Muddy Way

A street that begins at Fishmonger's Square.[21]

Sowbelly Row

Lollys Stokeworth was found wandering along this street after she had been raped.[22]

Pisswater Bend

The bloody flux was spreading through the stews on this street.[23]

Gates

There are seven city gates.

  • The River Gate, more commonly known as the Mud Gate.[24]
  • The Dragon Gate
  • The Lion Gate
  • The Old Gate
  • The King's Gate
  • The Iron Gate
  • The Gate of the Gods

Squares

  • Cobbler Square
  • Fishmonger's Square

Population

King's Landing has an estimated population of more than 500,000, as stated by Tyrion when he meets Oberyn Martell on his arrival to King's Landing. George R. R. Martin has also stated that the city is larger than Medieval London or Paris but smaller than Medieval Constantinople or Ancient Rome (each had a population of about 1,000,000).

References and Notes

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Cities in A Song of Ice and Fire.
The list of authors can be seen in the page history of Cities in A Song of Ice and Fire.
As with A Wiki of Ice and Fire, the content of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.