Northern Ireland Plans To Convert 'Game Of Thrones' Set Into Tourist Attraction

County Antrim in Northern Ireland is planning to turn the Wall from the hit HBO series “Game of Thrones” into a tourist attraction. The 300-mile wall of ice is a key location in the series and it has been recreated in a former cement works in Magheramorne Quarry.

"It is a magnificent site and it would be a massive tourist attraction,” said legislator Sammy Wilson. He spoke to the Belfast Telegraph about the county’s plans to turn the site into a profitable and more permanent attraction.

"To have the set there as well would be the icing on the cake," he said. The Wall has been recreated by the HBO production team and local officials are hoping they won't tear it down once production is finished. According to the same report, the location doubles as the Wall and as Hardhome.

The Wall is a massive structure built of ice. It straddles the width of Westeros and divides the continent into the lands north and south of it. The Wall is guarded by a brotherhood called the Night’s Watch. They protect the dwellers of the southern side from the free folk and the horrors and strange creatures that lie in the north.

On the Wall, the set for Castle Black also exists. This is where the Night’s Watch houses most of its members. Many scenes in the series, including the tragic death of Jon Snow, were shot on that location.

Hardhome featured prominently in Season 5 as the location of a massive fight scene between wildlings, members of the Night’s Watch and Whitewalkers in an icy wildling settlement north of the wall. In real life, it is also being filmed in the Magheramorne Quarry.

The Hollywood Reporter has noted that the use of Belfast as the primary filming location for the wildly popular series has boosted the local economy. The influx of tourists as well as the interest of other production outfits in filming in the area, has resulted in a lot of revenue for local studios and other businesses.

Season 6 of “Game of Thrones” is currently being filmed in Belfast as well as several other European locations. The sixth installment of the "Song of Ice and Fire" book series is also expected to be released soon. The book, titled “Winds of Winter,” is as highly anticipated as the premiere episode of season 6, which airs in spring 2016.