10 Assassin's Creed Locations You Can Visit In Real Life

10 Assassin’s Creed Locations You Can Visit in Real Life

Caitlin Johnson

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re looking at landmarks and monuments that appear in “Assassin’s Creed” games that you can still go and see in person.

The Roman Colosseum

“Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood” (2010)

Today it stands in the heart of Rome, but during the sixteenth century when Ezio arrives in Italy’s great capital, the city hadn’t expanded enough to absorb it completely. When you reach it in “Brotherhood”, it’s surrounded by grassland. It had also fallen into disrepair at the time, with people taking stone from it to use in buildings elsewhere, something that happened to many ancient ruins over the centuries. But you don’t only visit the Colosseum during the Renaissance; Desmond also travels there for the game’s modern-day ending, and has to perform a long platforming sequence in the underground hypogeum, which wasn’t accessible when Ezio lived.

Knossos Palace

“Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” (2018)

The Minoans lived on Crete and built this palace around four thousand years ago, and it was recreated on a huge scale for “Odyssey”. While many of “Odyssey’s” landmarks are completely fictional – all of those enormous statues, for instance – Knossos Palace is very real indeed. The Minoans were completely wiped out by a volcanic eruption on the nearby island of Thera, also known as Santorini, in around 1600 BC. Not only did the eruption blast Thera itself into pieces, but the Minoans couldn’t survive. The palace today has been controversially “reconstructed” by 19th century archaeologists, but it remains one of the earliest human settlements on this scale we’ve ever found.

Piazza San Marco

“Assassin’s Creed II” (2009)

It’s definitely difficult to choose one landmark from “Assassin’s Creed II”. There’s il Duomo in Florence, still one of the most impressive cathedrals ever built; there’s San Gimignano with its Medieval towers; and the climactic boss battle in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. But one location stands out to us: the Piazza San Marco in Venice, home to St Mark’s Basilica and its Campanile – or bell tower. A desire to see Venice recreated is one of the few reasons people want to see a remake of “Assassin’s Creed II”, which is otherwise a perfect game in need of few changes. It doesn’t look quite the same today as it did during the Renaissance thanks to it being struck by lightning dozens of times, but Venice is still one of Italy’s most stunning cities.

Notre-Dame de Paris

“Assassin’s Creed Unity” (2014)

From one church to another, it took a century to build Notre-Dame Cathedral, and it’s stood in Paris for eight hundred years. But, like the Colosseum, Notre-Dame was in a state of disrepair when Arno was working in the city in the 1790s. It had been largely sacked by the French Revolution and wasn’t restored until the following century. Rumour has it that it was recreated so meticulously by Ubisoft, with one designer working on it for years, that Ubisoft’s research was used to help rebuild it following the 2019 fire that destroyed its spire. This isn’t actually true, but Ubisoft did donate half a million euros to the restoration and released “Unity” for free temporarily.

The Tower of London

“Assassin’s Creed Syndicate” (2015)

Tower Hamlets is a little outside of “Syndicate’s” main map, so an additional map was needed to portray both the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Evie goes there briefly when she finally assassinates Lucy Thorne, and you’re challenged with exploring the huge building – originally a castle – and recruiting the yeomen to help you. Though it’s now a key, London tourist attraction, known for its Beefeaters and prophetic raven population, it was still used as a prison until the 1950s. But it reappears along with the bridge in the Lydia Frye World War I missions, “Syndicate’s” best-kept secret. To truly explore this London borough, make sure you do these optional missions by jumping through the rift in the north-east of the Thames.

Havana Cathedral

“Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag” (2013)

Construction on Havana Cathedral didn’t begin until 1748, so why was it here in “Black Flag” over thirty years too early, since Edward visits the city in 1715? Well, the game actually acknowledges this, with the database telling you that while they knew it was anachronistic, they couldn’t resist recreating this notable Cuban landmark. What’s so fascinating about Havana Cathedral is that it’s made of coral stone, which is what gives it its unique look. Luckily, in real life, you don’t have to worry about buildings appearing too early. The cathedral was consecrated roughly 250 years ago, and if you go in person, you can see the interior, which you can’t do in-game.

Chichen Itza

“Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation” (2012)

We got a glimpse of some Mesoamerican ruins in the naval missions of “Assassin’s Creed III”, but the most famous ruins of all appeared in “Liberation” that same year. After exploring much of New Orleans and the surrounding bayou, Aveline poses as a slave so that she can be sent to Chichen Itza in Mexico – though the country was still called “New Spain” at the time. Here, the Templars are leading an excavation to look for precursor relics. She explores the whole site and its many famous pyramids, even descending into unexplored regions for the game’s infamous canoeing mission. Though “Liberation’s” graphics are much simpler, even in the remaster, Chichen Itza still stands out as one of the franchise’s best recreated landmarks.

The Hagia Sophia

“Assassin’s Creed: Revelations” (2011)

As soon as we found out that “Revelations” was going to be sending Ezio to Istanbul, also known as Constantinople, we couldn’t wait to explore the Hagia Sophia. It’s stood in the city for over 1500 years, being used first as a church for Christian denominations, then as a mosque, then a museum, and today a mosque again. It’s no easy feat to capture all of that history in one building, especially not in a video game, but Ubisoft managed it. Ezio explores the interior, meticulously recreated, to find a legendary assassin tomb held in the roof. This is one of many “Assassin’s Creed” missions that will leave you sweating if you’re scared of heights.

Stonehenge

“Assassin’s Creed Valhalla” (2020)

The UK’s most mysterious landmark did, of course, appear in “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla”. There were many ancient monuments and stone circles throughout the game, as well as vast – but inaccurate – recreations of London’s Roman ruins. Stonehenge stands out, though, as a huge collection of monoliths that appears in-game exactly as it does in real life. It’s barely changed since Eivor crossed the North Sea and landed in England, though, if you go in person, we don’t think you’ll have to climb over the stones to solve a puzzle left by an ancient monk. In fact, if you even TRY to climb on them, they’ll ask you to leave.

JOKE ENTRY:

Atlantis

“Assassin’s Creed Odyssey” (2018)

We’ve all visited the ancient, lost city of Atlantis so many times that it’s almost pointless to put it on this list. But just because we’re all familiar with the city and its pantheon of superhuman gods, doesn’t make it any less interesting. No, we’re joking, the real last entry on our list is…

The Pyramids of Giza

“Assassin’s Creed Origins” (2017)

Much like Stonehenge, the authorities also don’t like people climbing on the pyramids; influencers have even allegedly gone to jail for climbing up them in recent years. Not the case in the first century; Bayek can go all the way to the top of all of Giza’s pyramids, including the Great Pyramid, which was the tallest structure in the world for nearly four thousand years. You can also visit the Great Sphinx nearby, which houses some Isu relics, and Bayek will comment on how it’s surprisingly small. But what’s interesting about the pyramids in “Origins” is that Ubisoft tried to make them look how they did thousands of years ago, when they hadn’t lost their white, limestone casing or the gold-plated capstones. It’s Egypt as you’ve never seen it before.

Let us know in the comments which of these landmarks you’ve visited!