Location from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
The ruined former capital of Gondor — a shattered city straddling the Anduin, now a no-man's-land where Gondor's soldiers fight to hold river crossings against Mordor's endless probes.
Osgiliath was once the jewel of Gondor — a city of bridges and domes straddling the great river, its palantír tower the envy of the world. Now it is a graveyard of architecture. The fighting has been so constant and so prolonged that the ruins have developed a layered quality — ancient Númenórean stonework, medieval fortifications, and fresh barricades of rubble all compressed together. The sound of Osgiliath is running water and distant shouting. Orc arrows fly across the river at unpredictable intervals. Faramir's rangers hold the western bank with grim determination, sleeping in shifts in cellars and fighting from windows. The eastern bank moves with orc patrols at night, their fires visible from the Gondorian positions. Everything smells of river mud and old stone and blood. This is where Gondor's war is most immediate — not the grand strategy of Minas Tirith but the daily, grinding reality of holding a line.
Broken stone bridges spanning the Anduin, some collapsed into the water. Ruined towers and shattered domes on both banks, overgrown with weeds. The eastern half completely abandoned and held by orcs. The western half garrisoned but crumbling — makeshift barricades built from ancient masonry. The river flowing dark and cold through the middle of the devastation.
Also known as: Osgiliath, the River City, Citadel of the Stars