Volantis

Volantis is one of the Free Cities located on the western coast of Essos. It is the southern and eastern-most of the Free Cities, located on the Summer Sea at the mouth of the vast River Rhoyne. As the closest of the Free Cities to Slaver's Bay, ships passing between east and west frequently stop there. It is famed for its wines.

Season 1

You Win or You Die

The wineseller in the market at Vaes Dothrak boasts of his fine wine from Volantis, the Arbor and Dorne.

In the books

In the Song of Ice and Fire novels, Volantis (sometimes called Old Volantis) is the oldest, largest and the most populous of the Free Cities, but also the most corrupt. Its vast, crescent-shaped harbor could contain the entirety of Braavos within it. The city is located on the mouth of the River Rhoyne, which spills into the Summer Sea through a large delta. Volantis lies on both sides of the main mouth of the river and is protected from the Dothraki by further mouths of the river to the east.

Volantis is divided in two halves by the Rhoyne. The western side of the city is open to foreigners, traders and merchants. The eastern side contains the inner city, which is protected by the 200-foot-tall Black Walls. The Black Walls are wide enough for six four-horse chariots to ride along its top abreast. Slaves, foreigners and freedmen are not permitted within the Black Walls. The main waterway is bridged by the Long Bridge, a structure so large it can take hours to cross if traffic is very heavy.

Volantis is known as the Firstborn of Valyria. Of the colony-states that eventually became the Free Cities, Volantis maintained the closest ties to Valyria and carried on its traditions the most stringently. After the Doom of Valyria, the rulers of Volantis petitioned the Targaryens on Dragonstone to help them in subduing the other cities and forging a new Valyrian Empire on the mainland, but the Targaryens refused, later instead preferring to mount an invasion of Westeros. Volantis attempted to carve out this empire by themselves anyway, at one point extending their control to their fellow cities of Lys and Myr for two generations, but a later attempt to conquer Tyrosh saw them overstretch themselves. Braavos, Pentos and the Westerosi Storm King entered the war on Tyrosh's side, and in the resulting struggle Volantis was defeated. The resulting struggle over the territories that had changed hands in the war created the Disputed Lands. Further attempts to extend Volantene power eastwards failed, with a fleet sent to reclaim Valyria being lost in the Smoking Sea, and the Dothraki overrunning all the lands east of the Rhoyne. In the north, Qohorik fireships broke Volantis' attempts to control the entire Rhoyne river network, restricting Volantis' influence to south of the ruins of Chroyane. The Century of Blood left Volantis bankrupt and anarchic, and traders, merchants and more moderate leaders took control of the city and have effectively ruled it ever since.

Volantis is still a freehold, like Valyria before it. All freeborn landholders - even women - are entitled to vote in elections to vote for the rulers of the city. Three freeholders - the triarchs - rule for a period of one year, during which time they travel everywhere by elephant, as their feet are not allowed to touch the ground. The triarchs must come from noble families that can prove an unbroken line of descent from Valyria. The traders and other moderate factions call themselves the 'elephants', whilst those who favor military expansion are known as 'tigers'. They have been out of favor for some three centuries.

Volantis remains the centre of the slave-trading industry in the Free Cities, and maintains sea and land links with Slaver's Bay many hundreds of miles to the south-east. Volantis prefers a policy of neutrality and getting rich on its slave trading, but its location on the south-eastern edge of the Disputed Lands sees it sometimes drawn into warfare with Lys, Myr and Tyrosh for control of the region.

See also

• Volantis at A Wiki of Ice and Fire.