Maps of Movies

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

Where Fiddler on the Roof says it takes place, and where it was really shot.

Anatevka does not exist: the Ukrainian shtetl was shot in Croatian villages, with the snow shipped in as marble dust

Scenes and places

Anatevka, the village that never existed (1905)

Tevye, a poor milkman, introduces his village and its ways. He says tradition is what keeps the people of Anatevka steady, like a fiddler on a roof.

Set in Anatevka — A fictional Jewish village somewhere in Ukraine, 1905; the film's own invention, so it has no real coordinates.

A made-up shtetl in the Pale of Settlement; the film stands it in with real Croatian villages.

Filmed at Lekenik, Croatia — The director chose Lekenik to stand in for Anatevka; the exact streets used are not given in the sources. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

Tevye's house and the Sabbath guest (1905)

Tevye meets Perchik, a student from Kyiv, and invites him home for the Sabbath meal, offering room and board for tutoring his two youngest daughters. Tzeitel meanwhile pushes Motel to ask for her hand.

Set in Tevye's house — The family home in Anatevka, the film's invented village.

The family home, seen as a modest house and yard within the village.

Filmed at Lekenik, Croatia (village level) — The exterior of the village was shot in Lekenik and Mala Gorica; which of the two holds the house is not stated in any source found. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The butcher's house and the tavern (1905)

After the Sabbath, Tevye visits the wealthy butcher Lazar Wolf, thinking he wants to buy a milk cow. Once the confusion is cleared he agrees to give Tzeitel in marriage, and the two men celebrate in a tavern.

Set in Lazar Wolf's house and the tavern — A butcher's home and a village tavern in Anatevka (fictional).

The butcher's well-appointed home and the tavern nearby; no source gives where these were filmed.

Tzeitel and Motel's wedding (1905)

Tevye gives way and lets Tzeitel marry Motel instead of Lazar Wolf. At the wedding an argument breaks out, and Perchik asks Hodel to dance across the men's and women's divide, which the crowd first resents then accepts.

Set in The wedding in Anatevka — The wedding of Tzeitel and Motel, held in the village (fictional).

The open yard where the village gathers for the ceremony.

Filmed at Mala Gorica, Croatia — One of the villages used for the Anatevka exteriors; the sources do not say which scenes were shot there, so the wedding is a likely but unconfirmed match. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there:

The demonstration in Kyiv (1905)

Perchik leaves Anatevka to join the revolution in Kyiv, and Hodel promises to marry him. At a demonstration he is arrested and sent away, and Hodel follows him, to her father's sorrow.

Set in Kyiv — A city of the Russian Empire where Perchik joins the revolution. Google Maps · Apple Maps

The big city beyond the shtetl where Perchik's politics play out.

Chava's church wedding (1905)

Chava falls in love with Fyedka, a young non-Jew, and they marry in an Orthodox church. Tevye, unable to accept it, tells Golde that Chava is dead to them.

Set in Orthodox church near Anatevka — A village church where Chava and Fyedka marry (fictional).

An Orthodox church near the village; the film does not tie it to a place and no source says where it was shot.

Filmed at Pinewood Studios, England — Studio interiors Google Maps · Apple Maps

Filmed at Zagreb, Croatia — Exteriors Google Maps · Apple Maps

Characters

• Tevye — A poor Jewish milkman in 1905 Anatevka with five daughters to marry off.
• Tzeitel — Tevye's eldest daughter, in love with the tailor Motel.
• Motel — A timid, poor tailor saving for a sewing machine.
• Perchik — A student from Kyiv with modern ideas who tutors Tevye's younger daughters.

Questions answered on the map

• Where was Anatevka, the village that never existed, really filmed?