Edzell Castle is unique in that it has a Renaissance walled garden with intricate relief carvings on the castle walls. Built in the 16th century, close to Edzell about 5 miles north of Brechin in Angus, Scotland, it seems more of a country house rather than a defense structure. Over the years the castle has been added to and now consists of the original tower house, buildings around the courtyard and the walled in garden. It is now a visitor attraction run by Historic Scotland and is open all year for a nominal entrance fee.

The carved panels are arranged in sets. The first set depict the seven Cardinal Virtues; trust, hope, charity, prudence, temperance, fortitude and justice and are on the west wall. The south wall has the seven Liberal Arts; grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy. On the east wall you will find the Planetary Deities; Luna, Mercury, Venus, Sol, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Each of the panels are approximately 3.3 ft high and 2-2.5 feet wide. The Planetary Deities are within elliptical frames, the Liberal Arts under arches, and the Cardinal Virtues in rectangles. The presence of these panels is thought by many to be linked to esoteric traditions like Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry. The feeling of inward reflection gives the castle it's mystique and beauty.

Have fun making the online jigsaw puzzle below. Click on Ghost to make your workspace. You can click and drag the pieces where you want them, and rotate them by mousing over the pieces and using the mouse roller or your arrow keys to turn them. Click on Image when you need to see the colors. (The photo of the castle is courtesy of Anne Burgess through wikipedia and the Creative Commons license.) For more details about the castle, click here.