Middle Earth: architects plan recreation of Tolkien's fantasy city, Minas Tirith

by Tom Anstey | 10 Aug 2015

In fiction, Minas Tirith is built into a mountainside, rising up the gradient and culminating in the Citadel at its summit

An ambitious group of architects are planning to construct a replica of the fictitious ancient walled city of Minas Tirith from JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth writings and have launched an ambitious fundraising campaign online to bring the fantasy city to life.

In fiction, Minas Tirith is built into a mountainside, rising up the gradient and culminating in the Citadel at its summit. On each of the city’s seven levels, which rise 100ft (30m) higher each time is a white wall, with the exception of the wall of the First Circle, which is black.

In the book, the city is the site of the largest battle of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and in film director Peter Jackson's film of the book, it's one of the most iconic locations.

Formed of a group of architects and structural engineers called Realise Minas Tirith want to create a replica of the city, which in the films are inspired by Le Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, France.

The £1.85bn (US$2.9bn, €2.6bn) project would create a one-of-a-kind tourist attraction and would be funded by various residential properties as detailed in the IndieGogo funding page. The vast majority of this expense covers building costs with £15m (US$23.2m, €21.2m) to buy the land, £188m (US$291m, €266m) for labour costs and £1.4bn (US$2.2bn, €2bn) for materials. The remainder of the money will be invested in maintenance and public services until the year 2053.

If successful, work will start by the end of 2016, with an opening date of 2023. The developers are currently considering two locations for Minas Tirith, both in southern England.