Puzzle: Liguria, Italy


Size
: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 35cm x 48cm
Producer: Canada Games, Windsor
Location: Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Liguria borders France to the west, Piedmont to the north, and Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany to the east. It lies on the Ligurian Sea. Liguria is a narrow strip of land, enclosed between the sea and the Alps and the Apennines mountains, it is a winding arched extension from Ventimiglia to La Spezia.

The capital Genoa, one of the most important ports in the Mediterranean and home to Christopher Columbus, was already a powerful maritime state in the Middle Ages. Liguria is where pesto  is originally from, one of the most popular sauces in Italian cuisine. Seafood is a major staple of Ligurian cuisine, as the sea has been part of the region’s culture since its beginning. Another important aspect of the culture there is the beach. Tourists have been flocking to the Italian Riviera for decades to experience its calm, deep blue water. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Dromoland Castle, Ireland


Size
: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben
Location: Dromoland Castle is a castle, now a luxury hotel, located near Newmarket-on-Fergus, County Clare, Ireland. The present building was completed in 1835. However the first building constructed here seems to have been a 15th or early 16th century tower house and is recorded as being erected by Thomas, the son of Shane Mac Anerheny. There were at least three houses on the site, at various times, called Dromoland. While Dromoland later became residence of eight generations of the O’Brien family, early records suggest that the area was also occupied by other local Gaelic families, such as the McInerney family during the 16th century. According to the historian James Frost, Dromoland translates as the “Hill of Litigation”.

Dromoland has been preserved with little change since 1855. The mansion is in “baronial” or “gothic revival” style. It has four linked irregular castellated  turrets. A gothic porch to the north front displays the O’Brien arms. The western portion faces out to the lake, and the east towards the hill where Thomond House now stands. The large walled gardens are to the south. In 1902 the 15th Baron Inchiquin, Lucius, took the old 17th century gateway from Leamaneh and erected it at the entrance to the large walled garden. A long curving drive leads from the gateway and classical lodge, passing north of the lake and round to the front door of Dromoland Castle. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Sheffield, Yorkshire, England


Size
: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben
Location: Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. The City of Sheffield is built on seven hills and is near the confluence of five rivers. It is estimated that Sheffield has over two million trees, more per person than any other city in Europe; 61% of the city is green space. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Generalife, Granada, Spain


Size
: 1000 pieces, 1 missing
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben
Location: The Palacio de Generalife (Arabic: Jannat al-‘Arif’ – Architect’s Garden) was the summer palace and country estate of the Nasrid Emirs of the Emirate of Granada, now beside the city of Granada in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain.

The palace and gardens were built during the reign of Muhammad III (1302–1309) and redecorated shortly after by Abu I-Walid Isma’il (1313–1324).

The complex consists of the Patio de la Acequia (Court of the Water Channel or Water-Garden Courtyard), which has a long pool framed by flowerbeds, fountains, colonnades and pavilions, and the Jardín de la Sultana (Sultana’s Garden or Courtyard of the Cypress). The former is thought to best preserve the style of the medieval garden in Al-Andalus. [Wiki]

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Puzzle: Villandry Castle, Indre-et-Loire, France


Size
: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben
Location site: http://testvillandry.ecritel.net/
Location: The lands where an ancient fortress once stood were known as Colombier until the 17th century. Acquired in the early 16th century by Jean Le Breton, France’s Controller-General for War under King Francis I, a new château was constructed around the original 14th-century keep where King Philip II of France once met Richard I of England to discuss peace.

In 1906, Joachim Carvallo  purchased the property and poured an enormous amount of time, money and devotion into repairing it and creating what many consider to be the most beautiful gardens anywhere. Its famous Renaissance  gardens include a water garden, ornamental flower gardens, and vegetable gardens. The gardens are laid out in formal patterns created with low box hedges. In 1934, Château de Villandry was designated a Monument historique. Like all the other châteaux of the Loire Valley, it is a World Heritage Site. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Boat Quay, Singapore


Size
: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben
Location: Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, 137 kilometres north of the equator, in the Southeast Asian region of the Asian continent. It is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north, and from Indonesia’s Riau Islands by the Singapore Strait to its south. Singapore is the world’s fourth leading financial centre and a cosmopolitan world city, playing a key role in international trade and finance. The port of Singapore is also amongst the top five busiest ports in the world.

Singapore is an immigrant country with a long history of immigration. It has a diverse population of close to 5 million people made up of Chinese, Malays, Indians, Asians of various descents and Caucasians. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Iseltwald, Switzerland


Size
: 1000 pieces
Dimensions: 51.12cm x 66.52cm
Producer: Big Ben
Location: Iseltwald is a municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The village lies on a delta at the south bank of Lake Brienz in the Bernese Oberland. It is 14 km (9 mi) from Interlaken, the road mostly running along Lake Brienz. It consists of the village of Iseltwald and the hamlets of Furen, Sengg and Isch as well as scattered farm houses through the woods and into the alps.

Iseltwald has a population (as of 31 December 2009) of 410. As of 2007, 6.8% of the population was made up of foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years the population has decreased at a rate of -9.9%. Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (97.2%), with French being second most common ( 0.7%) and Italian being third ( 0.7%). [Wiki]

Puzzle: Aargau Canton, Switzerland


Size
: 500 pieces, 1 missing
Dimensions: 33.02cm x 48.26cm
Producer: Kodacolor
Location: Aargau is one of the more northerly cantons of Switzerland. The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state[1] with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Ascona, Switzerland


Size
: 500 pieces
Dimensions: 33.02cm x 48.26cm
Producer: Kodacolor
Location: Ascona is a municipality in the district of Locarno in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It has a population of about 5000 and is located on the shore of Lake Maggiore. The “Monte Verità” (literally Hill of Truth) in Ascona has an important historical background. At the beginning of the 20th century, a colony was founded on it which preached the return to nature. The colony attracted a large number of artists, anarchists and other famous people, including Hermann Hesse, Carl Jung, Erich Maria Remarque, Hugo Ball, Else Lasker-Schüler, Stefan George, Isadora Duncan, Paul Klee, Rudolf Steiner, Mary Wigman, Gyula Háy, Max Picard, Ernst Toller, Henri van de Velde, Rudolf Laban, Frieda and Else von Richthofen, Otto Gross, Erich Mühsam, Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach, and Gustav Stresemann. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Oberhofen Castle, Bern Canton, Switzerland


Size
: 1000 pieces
Producer: Big Ben
Location site: http://www.oberhofen.ch/
Story: The lakeside castle of Oberhofen dates back to the Middle Ages, but has been constantly changed and updated throughout the ages. The castle today houses a division of the Historic Museum of Bern, and has a spectacular formal lakeside garden in the English style with many rare specimen trees.

The Wichterheer estate, lakeside to the south of the castle, houses the Museum fũr Uhren und Mechanische Musik (Museum of Timekeeping and Mechanical Music) as well as an exhibit of 20th century local art. [Wiki]

Puzzle: Linderhof Castle, Bavaria


Size
: 1200 pieces (1 missing)
Producer: F.X. Schmid
Location site: http://www.linderhof.de/
Story: Linderhof Palace (German: Schloss Linderhof) is a palace in Germany, near Oberammergau in southwest Bavaria near Ettal Abbey. It is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one of which he lived to see completion.

Although Linderhof is much smaller than Versailles, it is evident that the palace of the French Sun-King Louis XIV (who was an idol for Ludwig) was its inspiration.

The park combines formal elements of Baroque style or Italian Renaissance gardens with landscaped sections that are similar to the English garden. [Wiki]