Where it was filmed 'Star Wars: Episode 2 – Attack of the Clones'

For the second chapter of the prequel trilogy about the famous Star Wars of the galaxy “far, far away”, George Lucas and his team did not settle for fantastic, albeit realistic, CGI reconstructions, but chose to shoot in various places around the world, thereby creating a visual result packed with evocations.

Many interiors were shot at the Fox Studios in Sydney, Australia, while the exteriors featured both old favourites and new settings. Senator Padmé, former queen of Naboo, returns home to her planet to hide from the assassin hired to kill her. On her arrival, she heads for the Queen’s Palace, whose exterior was supplied by the Plaza de España in Seville, recognisable by its semi-circular shape and intricate Andalusian architecture.

The queen and her advisers meet in a familiar setting: the elegant marble interiors of the Reggia di Caserta, in particular the upper vestibule, reached by climbing the Scalone d’onore. For safety, Padmé will hide in Naboo’s “lake region”, actually Lake Como, where she stays at Villa del Balbianello, with its privileged view over the lake from the end of the little, wooded peninsula of Lavedo, in Tramezzina. Reaching the villa by boat, Anakin and Padmé walk in the garden, along paths flanked by statues, flourishing shrubs and panoramic terraces. One of these terraces will be the setting for their first kiss and their secret wedding at the end of the film. In the eighteenth-century Loggia of the Villa, surrounded by columns entwined with climbing plants, Anakin will tell Padmé about his recurring dream of his mother and his desire to find her. On the eastern shore of Lake Como, the pair have a romantic picnic on the lawn of Piana di Rogaro between Tramezzo and Griante.

Of course, the Tataouine desert in Tunisia couldn’t be left out, it features again as the Planet Tatooine where Anakin heads off in desperate search of his mother.