Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Filming Locations

In this neoclassical courtyard, Donovan handed over a Rolls Royce to the Sultan of Hatay in exchange for permits to search for the Holy Grail. The colonnaded courtyard still works today just as it did in 1989: students coming and going, teachers with folders under their arms. What is no longer there are twenty extras in period costume. Spielberg wanted the Court of the Lions at the Alhambra, but Granada said no. The alternative turned out to be perfect: the neoclassical arches from 1890 hold up well as a setting for "Iskenderun, 1938". The scene works because the courtyard has exactly the right proportions for a film palace.

Down this quiet street in the centre of Almería, three men escaped with the future of the Holy Grail in the glove compartment. Nothing in particular would distinguish Calle Almanzor from any other street if you didn't know what happened here in 1988. The numbers on the façades give it away: numbers 16 and 29 are visible in the shot as the car speeds past. Today there are no vintage cars, but the perspective with the Alcazaba in the background is exactly what they filmed. It is one of those locations that only exists for those who seek it out on purpose.

In these clay ravines took place the most iconic tank chase in the history of adventure cinema. The Tabernas Desert is the only desert in Europe and it looks the part: the ground cracks, dry riverbeds zigzag between ochre-coloured walls and in August the heat is crushing. Spielberg transformed it into the deserts of Hatay, and the Rambla de Lanújar was the stage where a prop tank mounted on a tractor chassis chased Harrison Ford for days. If you arrive at dawn, before the sun becomes unbearable, the landscape has a texture that perfectly explains why Almería was the European Hollywood for decades.

Here the Nazi plane entered a tunnel and came out in pieces, leaving Indy and his father stranded on foot in the middle of the desert. The Rodalquilar Mines have been abandoned for decades and today the landscape has that mix of decay and beauty that photographs so well: rusted structures, empty hoppers, cut cables and a view over the Cabo de Gata Natural Park that justifies the detour even if you haven't seen the film. The tunnel that appears on screen doesn't exist exactly as you see it — Spielberg used a modified mine entrance and the rest was editing and models.

Here Henry Jones Sr. raised his umbrella to the sky and a Nazi plane crashed into the cliff. Playa de Mónsul is as if someone had dropped a block of volcanic rock into the middle of the Mediterranean. The great rock they call "La Peineta" splits the beach in two: on its left, fine sand and turquoise water; on its right, the most cinematic cove in Spain. Spielberg chose it from all the beaches in the world for the umbrella scene, and when you see it in person you understand exactly why. The landscape has not changed at all since 1988.

On this platform in Granada, Marcus Brody stepped off the train believing Iskenderun was a Turkish city, only to be kidnapped within minutes. Guadix Train Station is a gem of Spanish railway modernism that nobody visits on purpose but that perfectly deserves a detour. In 1988 the crew arrived here and turned Granada into Turkey: potted palm trees on the platform, Arabic signs, extras in period costume and Marcus Brody getting lost among them all. The station has changed little since then — the modern trains are the only thing that breaks the illusion when one passes.