Guess That Geographical Location, 3 June 2012

Haven’t done one of these in a while, so let’s start off with an easy one.

Photo via Google Maps.

Where In The World?

We haven’t done one of these in a while. Where is it?

UPDATE: Congrats to Joey. This is Bekal Fort.

Where In The World?

It’s been a while since we did one of these, so this one is pretty easy.

BTW, there are two viable answers.

UPDATE: Congrats to RS! This is Longyearbyen, the home of the world seed vault and a CDA station. It is also the world’s northernmost town.

Where In The World?

Have at it.

UPDATE: Congrats to Nate Jamison! This is the home of the French Foreign Legion. If you’d like to sign up, go here!

Where In The World?

We haven’t done one of these in a while. This shouldn’t be too hard. 

UPDATE: Congrats to Lloyd! This is Gravelines.

Where In The World?

UPDATE: Gongratulations to Gelt!  This is Herrenchiemsee Palace in Bavaria.

The unfinished New Palace was designed by Christian Jank, Franz Seitz, and Georg Dollman and built between 1878 and 1885. Between 1863 and 1886 a total of 16,579,674 Marks[1] was spent constructing Herrenchiemsee. An 1890 ‘20 Mark’ gold coin contained 0.2304 troy ounce (7.171 g) of gold. Therefore, 16,579,674 Marks would equate to 190,998 oz of gold, which at recent gold prices (March 2007) is worth approximately £70,500,000GBP or (August 2007) $125,400,000 USD.

Ludwig only had the opportunity to stay within the Palace for a few days in September 1885. After his death in the following year, all construction work discontinued and the building was opened for the public. In 1923 Crown Prince Rupprecht gave the palace to the State of Bavaria.

Where In The World?

Here’s a mid-week submission.

Here’s a hint… it’s a city.  And it’s near some water. 

UPDATE: Congrats to Captain Ned (again).  This is the ancient city of Avignon, France.  While it has a storied history, perhaps it is best known for being the home of the Popes from 1309 until 1377.  It remained in possession of the Papacy until 1791 when the French Revolution rested it away.

Where In The World?

OK, nobody got the last two, so I’ll try to make this one easy.  A battle was fought here and I’m still reading the history of the Plantagenet kings of England.  Sigh…

UPDATE: Congrats to Captain Ned.  This is the site of the Battle of Crécy.  This is where the famed English (actually Welsh) longbow changed warfare forever by slaughtering the French nobility.  There are conflicting accounts that the English also used cannon, but from what I can tell it’s unlikely. 

Where In The World?

UPDATE: Congrats to NOBODY.  This is Berkeley Castle, one of the famous March Castles.  It’s been continuously occupied by the same family for 850 years and was the site of the murder of Edward II after he was deposed. 

Geez, this is two times in a row nobody got it.  I’ll have to start making it wussy so that people can solve it.  Hint: I’m still reading about the Plantegent Kings, so I suspect the next one will be in the same vein.

Where In The World?

UPDATE: I’ll stick this to the top for a while since nobody has figured it out yet.  Hmm… I didn’t think this one would take this long. 

Not too hard, so no hints.

UPDATE: UPDATE: Congrats to… NOBODY!  Ouch.  Nobody got this one. This is Scone Palace, the ancient crowning place of Scottish kings.  It was here that Robert the Bruce, among others, was crowned.  It is also where the Stone of Scone (a.k.a. Stone of Destiny) lived before being spirited away to Westminster Abbey by Edward “Longshanks” I to be used in the coronation of English monarchs ever since.

There is a trick to getting these quizzes from me.  You have to know what I’m reading at the moment.  I have a habit of looking up places mentioned in the books I’m reading.  As it is, I’m reading a history of the Plantegent kings right now.

Where In The World?

Here’re a couple of hints on this one:

- A great battle was fought here
- There is significance to the fact that I am posting it today

UPDATE: In record time, Captain Ned solves it.  This is the site of the Battle of Alesia where Julius Caeser defeated the mighty Gaul, Vercingetorix.  Although the war dragged on for a little while, this battle sealed it for the Gauls and marked the beginning of Roman control for 500 years.

Where In The World?

OK, the last one stumped y’all.  This one shouldn’t be that hard. 

UPDATE: Congrats to gelt.  This is Blenheim Palace.  Home of the original Marlborough Man and the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.

Where In The World?

This one might be a little tough.  It has an important significance from something that happened there between about 1,000 AD and 1,900 AD (how’s that for narrowing it down) and a somewhat important significance during the 20th century. 

UPDATE: This may be a first.  Nobody got it after three days.  So… here it is.  That little village to the northwest of the airbase used to be called Mollwitz.  This is the site of Frederick II, a.k.a. Frederick the Great’s, first battlefield victory.  To be fair, he left the battle when it appeared to be lost and it was won by his underlings, but it remains the site where he first won martial fame and reset the nature of international relations within Europe in 1741. 

The battle took place mostly on the site of the airbase that was used by both the Nazis and the Soviet Union before being decommissioned several years ago.

Where In The World?

UPDATE: Congrats to MU Student.  This is Mirbat in Oman where the Battle of Mirbat was fought in 1972.

Where In The World?

This one may be a little difficult.  Maybe not.  It’s chief signifigance is cultural.  I even included a measurement for you for scale.  You’re welcome. 

UPDATE: Congrats to BVBigBro.  I guess this one wasn’t too difficult (no offense). 

This is Henderson Island.  The crew of the whaleship Essex landed here for a week after their ship was sunk by an extraordinarily large Sperm Whale.  Three men stayed for months until finally rescued.  The other survivors resorted to cannibalism in order to survive.  The plight of the Essex inspired Herman Melville as he wrote his signature tome, Moby Dick.