The historical centre of Lucca lies within a unique wall system. These walls, built of small red bricks specifically created for their construction, were many years in the making (16th to 17th century). They were built as a defence against the ‘old enemy’, Florence, but were never in fact put to the test in war. However they have remained intact

The main piazza, the Piazza Roma, is dominated by a Romanesque church with a simple, plain facade. Other houses, some in the Renaissance style (once owned by local nobles, gentry and wealthy merchants) facing into the piazza. Off the main piazza smaller streets give way to public gardens fronted by the other houses and small businesses of the town.

Terme Tettuccio is a famous spa in Montecatini Terme, a spa town between Lucca and Florence in the Pistoia province of Tuscany. Tettuccio refers to a small roof built in antiquity that was found over the spring that feeds Tettuccio spa. Terme Tettuccio is where you take the waters, meaning the spa healing experience starts with drinking different waters from four springs

Elliot’s Beach is located in Besant Nagar, Chennai, India. It forms the end-point of the Marina Beach shore and is named after Edward Elliot, Governor of Madras. It has the Velankanni Church and the Ashtalakshmi Kovil nearby. The beach, one of the cleanest beaches in the city, is a prominent hang-out zone for most of the college-going crowd in Chennai.

The Chapel Bridge is a bridge crossing the Reuss River in the city of Lucerne in Switzerland. It is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe, and one of Switzerland’s main tourist attractions. The covered bridge was designed to help protect the city of Lucerne from attacks. Inside the bridge are a series of paintings from the 17th century, depicting events from Luzerne’s history.

The fortress of Kufstein is a jewel in the lower region of Tyrol and a landmark of the district capital Kufstein. The fortress, owned by the bishops of Regensburg, was documented for the first time in 1205. In 1703 and 1805 the Bavarians conquered the fortress which again came into Austrian ownership in 1814. It has belonged to the city of Kufstein since 1924.

The Plaza de Toros in Mexico City is the world’s largest bullring. Also called simply Plaza Mexico, this bullring can hold up to 45,000 people, and bullfights have been entertaining locals and visitors alike at this space since 1946. Located next to the stadium Estadio Azul, home of the Mexican soccer club Cruz Azul, the bullring also hosts boxing matches.

Bosra is an ancient city administratively belonging to the Daraa Governorate in southern Syria. It is a major archaeological site and has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The second century Roman theater, constructed probably under Trajan, is the only monument of this type with its upper gallery in the form of a covered portico which has been integrally preserved.

Palmyra (Arabic: Tadmur) was an ancient Arab city. In the old times it was an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km NE of Damascus at Deir ez-Zor. It has long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert and was known as the Bride of the Desert. The earliest documented reference to the city by its Semitic name Tadmuris recorded in Babylonian tablets found in Mari.

Vir Singh Deo ordered the construction of the Lakshmi Narayan Temple around 1622, but due to inadequate maintenance over the years the temple soon began to fall apart. The temple is worth seeing because it has been built using a mixture of temple and fort architecture. Built for Lakshmi, the Goddess of wealth, inner chambers were built for pilgrims to offer sacrifices to the Goddess.

Oman Dive Center is the oldest dive center in Oman. Founded in 1989, it was run as a dive club for several years and has undergone remarkable changes to become what it is today. In 2004 Oman Dive Center was taken over by Extra Divers Worldwide and was transformed into the only “eco dive resort” of Oman – in fact the only one in the Middle East!

The ruins of Alamparai Fort (also called Alampara) lie near Kadapakkam, a village 50 km from Mamallapuram on the land overlooking the sea. Constructed in the late 17th century during the Mughal era, the Alamparai Fort once had a 100-metre long dockyard stretching into the sea. Presently it is a picturesque and serene spot with backwaters and cool sand.

Pykara is a river located 19 km from Ooty in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It passes through hilly tract, generally keeping to North and turns to West after reaching the Plateau’s edge. The river flows through a series of cascades; and the last two falls of 55 meters and 61 meters are known as Pykara falls. The falls are approximately 6 km from the bridge on the main road.

Keukenhof (“Kitchen garden”) also known as the Garden of Europe, is situated near Lisse, Netherlands, and is the world’s largest flower garden. Approximately 7,000,000 (seven million) flower bulbs are planted annually in the park, which covers an area of 32 hectares. Keukenhof has been the world’s largest flower garden for over fifty years now and counting

The theater Ventidius Basso of Ascoli Piceno is named after Ventidius Basso, Ascoli, who lived in the first century BC. The theater, which has 15 feet of rope, consists of an oval room with four tiers, each divided into 23 boxes and the gallery to gallery with a total capacity of 842 spectators. Its seats are covered with velvet smooth color red.

This location comes to the clinching the spot as the one that has been used by Mani Rathnam the most number of times. But it is strange that we at wherewasitshot.com recognize this shooting location as the one that comes in the Superstar’s Padaiyappa. Remember those temple scenes in Padaiyappa, with first the Nadigar Thilagam and then the Superstar?

An airport would seem to be an unusual place to shoot a song in a Tamil movie but that is what precisely Shankar did when he shot almost the entire portion of the song ‘Kannum Kannum Nokia’ in the movie. The Kuala Lampur International airport in the Malaysian capital city is where the song, which drew widespread appreciation for the way it was shot and was easily the highlight song sequence of the movie, was shot.

Located in the temple city of Madurai in South India, the Thirumalai Nayakkar Mahal was introduced to the Tamil movie audience as a shooting location with the widely popular & tastefully picturized ‘KannaalaNE’ song from the movie Bombay.

Athirapilly Falls in Kerala has captured the imagination of quite a few Indian directors, but none has been a bigger fan of the place than Mani Rathnam, for songs from as high as 4 of his movies have been shot there – Kannathil Muthamittaal, Guru, Iruvar & Uyire (Dil Se).

This is one of our personal favorites inside Tamil Nadu, when it comes to shooting spot locations. At the peak of the season and when in full flow, the Hogenkkal Falls is second to none. It has the rare combination of majesty, power & beauty, all rolled into one.