TheDark Soulsseries takes you on a journey through fantastic landscapes filled with humbling architectural wonders. Despite taking place in fallen kingdoms, all games in FromSoftware’s beloved trilogy are filled with beauty, to the point where you wish to visit some of these places. The good news is, you can!
Since many Dark Souls locations are inspired by real places, it’s possible to grab a backpack and go globe-trotting in search of the buildings that were used as templates to create FromSoftware’s dark fantasy universe. With that in mind, here are the best Dark Souls locations you can visit in real life.
10The Duke’s Archives
George Peabody Library, Baltimore
In the first Dark Souls, the Duke’s Archives are a huge library containing all the knowledge gathered by Seath, the Scaless, a powerful dragon who uses magic crystal to become immortal. As it turns out, the Duke’s Archives architecture was inspired by the George Peabody Library, located in Baltimore.
Both the digital and the real location share several stores filled with books, connected by a broad central piece. George Peabody Library’s doesn’t have giant turning staircases or enemies throwing magic beams at you, but that’s as close as you’ll get from the Duke’s Archives in real life.
9Archdragon Peak
Blue Mosque, Istanbul
The Archdragon Peak is inspired by the Byzantine architecture, still an essential part of Turkey’s cities. In Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, for example, you’re able to visit the Blue Mosque, a building that shares quite a resemblance with something seen in the boss room of thefan-favorite Nameless King.
In addition to the Blue Mosque, Istanbul also hosts the Hagia Sophia, another building with a similar structure. Both touristic attractions are reminiscent of a time when Istanbul was known as Constantinople. The Archdragon Peak is one of the best regions inDark Souls 3, making this a great travel destination.
8Lost Izalith
Angkor Wat, Cambodia
While Lost Izalith suffers from Dark Souls’ rushed end-development, there are still some architectural wonders to find in the home of the infamous Bed of Chaos. The spiraling stone towers found all around Lost Izalith take inspiration in the Angkor Wat, the largest religious structure in the world.
Located in the the city of Siem Reap, in Cambodia, the Angkor Wat a Hindu-Buddhist temple complex unlike anything else in the world. It’s no wonder that FromSoftware decided to use this real-life location as inspiration to build one of the most important areas of the first chapter in its successful trilogy.
7Profaned Capital
Petra, Jordan
While journey to the depths of Dark Souls 3 world, you’ll eventually get to the Profaned Capital, whereYhorm, the Giant, patiently awaits in his throne room. The entry of the capital is a huge door sculpted in stone that quite resembles Petra, the historical city in Jordan.
Due to its historical value and the magnificent sights if offers, Petra was voted one of the Seven New Wonders of the World. Both Petra and the Profaned Capital are traces of ancient civilizations that no longer exist, which explain why Dark Souls uses this real location as a template for the area.
The starting point of the Profaned Capital area is a leaning tower not unlike the Tower of Pisa, located in the city of Pisa, Italy.
Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro, Mexico
The Undead Parish is one of the first areas you visit in Dark Souls, while you are still trying to learn the ropes of the challenging gameplay. The structure of the Undead Parish is quite similar to the abandoned church of Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro, in Mexico.
The church ruins of Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro echo the destruction of the city by a volcano eruption, which partially forvered the place with lave and ashes. The Undead Parish is also a tragic place that stands tall in Dark Souls’ first area as a reminder of a thriving civilization that slowly decayed.
5Firelink Shrine Graveyard
Old Jewish Cemetary, Prague
Visiting the graveyard in Firelink Shrine before leveling up is a dangerous task, as the living skeletons of the place can easily kill you in just a few hits. There are no undead on the Old Jewish Cemetary of Prague, in the Czech Republic.
The Old Jewish Cemetary of Prague stands out from other similar sites due to its irregular positioning of headstones. This apparently chaotic placement of graves seems to have inspired FromSoftware to create the graveyard of Firelink Shrine.
The chaotic pattern of headstones would also be used in Dark Souls 3, in the Cemetery of Ash tutorial area.
4Cathedral Of The Deep
St. Peter’s Basilic, Vatican
Dark Souls 3’s Cathedral of the Deep is a huge religious building occupied by a devious sect bound by profanity and destruction. Ironically, the Cathedral of the Deep seems to take inspiration from one of the holiest places in Christianism, the St. Peter’s Basilic, in Vatican.
Both places have broad corridors adorned with saint statues, and multiple corners filled with banks for the masses to hear the words of holy people. Even the curved dome on top of the Cathedral of the Deep resembles the interior design of St. Peter’s Basilic.
3Deacons Of The Deep Boss Room
Black Stone Of Kaaba, Mecca
The cult of the Deep in Dark Souls 3 takes inspiration in different religions, not only Christianism. For example, the boss room of the Deacons of the Deep has a huge black rectangular stone, which draws a striking resemblance to the Black Stone of Kaaba, the most religious place for Islamic people.
Similar to how the Black Stone of Kaaba serves as a beacon for the Islamic faith, the object at the center of the Deacons of the Deep boss room is at the center of their religion. That’s because, in Dark Souls 3, the object is the tomb of Aldrich, the Devour of Gods, the leader of this twisted faith.
2Crystal Cave
Cave Of The Crystals, Mexico
Dark Souls’ Crystal Cave isone of the most unique locations in an RPG. Filled with giant crystal you can walk upon, the place has a mysterious aura that turns it into one of the most memorable places in the trilogy. Surprisingly, the real-world version of the Crystal Cave is almost identical to the game’s.
The Cave of the Crystals, located in Naica, Mexico, is filled with enormous crystals that towers over any human. The only things the Cave of the Crystal is missing to become an identical version of a Dark Souls location are the invisible pathways and giant moths.
1Anor London
Il Duomo Cathedral, Milan
Getting to Anor Londo for the first time is a life-defining moment for Dark Souls fans. The city, bathed in golden light, shows you what the mighty kingdom looked like before the undead plague destroyed all in its wake. The impressive architecture of Anor Londo has a clear source of inspiration: the Il Duomo Cathedral in Milan, Spain.
The Il Duomo Cathedral has the same inclined arches that become pathways in Dark Souls, and its dozens of towers pointing up echo the glory of Gwyn’s fading city. It’s amazing how FromSoftware managed to capture the majesty of the Il Duomo Cathedral and turn it into one of the most memorable levels in any game.
Anor Londo is such an important place for the series that the location is also part of Dark Souls 3, the last chapter in the trilogy.
