Fountains Abbey – Tower rises from a windswept valley in North Yorkshire, where the ruins tell a story stretching back to the 12th century. Founded in 1132 by Benedictine monks and later run by the Cistercians, the abbey became one of medieval England’s wealthiest monastic communities before the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. Today, the skeletal arches, cloisters, and the towering remains sit among rolling pastures and the water-meadow of Studley Royal, creating a hauntingly serene atmosphere that invites quiet reflection. The site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, celebrated for its architectural grandeur and expansive landscape. In The Witcher, the ruins were used to depict Aretuza’s courtyard and cloisters, lending a mythic, otherworldly mood to scenes of magic, power, and rivalries among mages.

Fountains Abbey’s Mill Ruins sit in a windswept valley where centuries of faith, power, and landscape design converge. Founded in 1132 by Cistercian monks, the abbey grew into one of England’s largest and most complete monastic complexes before its Dissolution in the 16th century. Today, the surviving nave arches, cloisters, and Studley Royal Water Garden render a haunting chorus of stone and water, with moss and lichen tracing the centuries across the ruins. The site—recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site—offers a quiet, cathedral-like atmosphere that shifts with the light, inviting reflection as well as awe. Notably, the ruins were used by filmmakers as Aretuza’s courtyard and cloisters in The Witcher, blending real medieval grandeur with fantasy ambience.

Fountains Abbey – Cellarium sits amid the sweeping ruins of a 12th-century Cistercian abbey near Ripon, its stone arches rising over quiet meadows and the serene Studley Royal water garden. The abbey survived dissolution in the 16th century and later romantic-era preservation, and the Cellarium's vaulted corridors convey a hushed, cathedral-like atmosphere that invites quiet exploration. The site’s grandeur and tranquil grounds evoke centuries of monastic life, devotion, and later romantic reverie, with birdsong echoing through stone and water glinting in the grasses. As a film location, it has become a visual bridge to The Witcher world, with the ruins standing in for Aretuza’s courtyard and cloisters and blending fantasy light with medieval quiet.