Petra (VIII before JC)
Petra is an archaeological site that was used as a set for the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It is located in Amman, the capital of Jordan
Place
Cortlandt Alley
Cortland Alley is New York's most famous street. Indeed, if you have already watched a film or a series taking place in New York, there is a good chance that you have already seen it.
Cortlandt Alley is a narrow alley in Manhattan located between Canal Street and White Street and perpendicular to Broadway Street. It is characterized by its old shutters on the windows, its air vents, its graffiti on the walls, its garbage cans on the side and its rusty fire escapes. At night, this alley is quite scary, we can imagine all kinds of crimes happening here.
Cortlandt alley
There are no alleys in New York!
In our collective imagination, when we think of New York, we think of its giants buildings, its large boulevards, but also its many alleys. The reality, however, is that there are almost no alleys in New York, especially in its most represented district in cinema: Manhattan.The construction of the streets of Manhattan is in a grid shape. This leaves almost no space for alleys. There are therefore less than ten. Most of these alleys cannot be used for filming, except for one, Cortlandt Alley. So when a filmmaker has to use a New York alley in his film, it is necessarily Cortlandt Alley.
An Endless Loop
The problem with all these appearances in films, is that it creates a loop. We only know New York by the -misleading- image that the films send back to us. As a result, filmmakers who wish to create a film in New York will film a scene in an alley because that is the image, they have of it. This scene will often be shot in Cortlandt Alley, and will be shown in cinemas. Future filmmakers will see this scene and will certainly place this misleading image in their films.
The big thing I always get asked to find are dank dilapidated alleys, and New York City has, like, 5 alleys that look like that. [...]I try to stress to these directors in a polite way that New York is not a city of alleys...
Nick Carr, location scout
Map of Cortlandt Alley
Many Appearances
This is why we find it in hundreds of films. The best known beings: Crocodile Dundee (1986), 9 ½ weeks (1986), Highlander (1986), the smurfs (2011), Annie (2014), Ninja turtles: coming out of the shadows (2016), Gotham ( S01E01) (2014), Men In Black 3(2012)
Other Cult Places
Find below other cult places that have served as sets for world-famous films or series.
Greystone Mansion (1928)
The Greystone Mansion is a mansion located in Beverly Hills. It is known as a film location because of its beauty. It has hosted the filming of Spider Man 2 and 3; Ghostbusters 2 or Star Trek into Darkness
Quality Cafe (2006)
The Quality Cafe is an American diner located in California. Just like Cortlandt Alley, it is typical of many movies: Mr and Mrs Smith; Million Dollar Baby; stop me if you can...
Bistrot La Renaissance (2009)
The Bistro La Renaissance is a Parisian cafe that hosted the shooting of the movie Inglourious Basterds in 2009. We find there the scene where sergeant Zoller explains his exploits to Emmanuelle.
Dubrovnik (2011)
The city of Dubrovnik in Croatia is the setting for the city of King's Landing in the cult series Game Of Throne