If you think this is an English countryside castle then you are wrong. This is a fascinating place of great historical importance located somewhere in Pakistan. Some ATP readers would immediately recognize it and other won’t. If you know this place then hold your answer for a while (but please comment and give a hint to others though). So lets see how many of you can guess a) what it is, b) where, and b) to whom it belongs? Happy guessing.
As usual, answer and info about original photograph coming up in 2-3 days.
Well folks, this ATP Quiz turned out to be an interesting one and I think most of you confused it with Ziarat Residency in Balochistan :). Ziarat Residency has completely different surroundings and the building structure, color etc is also very different.
Well here is the answer for all of you. This beautiful house located in Nathia Gali belongs to the Governor of NWFP who comes here for summer vacations. Nathia Gali has been summer capital of NWFP province for long time and I believe it still is.
This Governor House was built by British rulers before independence of Pakistan. This beautiful building with its lush green lawns and impressive architecture is well maintained and still used as official residence and office of NWFP governer. There are many other NWFP government offices/buildings in Nathia Gali like Frontier House, Retreat House (now converted to a hotel) and Karnak House.
Visitors are not allowed inside Governor House but after permission from security officals they can take photographs from outside.
For adventure lovers, I would suggest a track near greens spot that goes to governer house. You can take nice photographs from this track. Behind the house, there is a track which leaves for the Miran Jani Hill which is the highest point in the Galliat Range at about 2867 m. It is a very scenic trek to Miran Jani Top which offers wonderful views of the pine forests and hills surrounding the region. You can book horses from Nathia Gali if you don’t want to go there by foot.
Speaking of Nathia Gali also reminds me of most delicious Patakha Chicken :). More pictures of NWFP Governor House in Nathia Gali here and here. The original photograph used in this quiz can be seen here
This is President’s House or Governor House in Murree.
Governor House in Nathia Gali, NWFP, Pakistan.
Ziarat is not on top of the mountain but it is a valley. Which ever direction one takes photo in Ziarat, some background hill or mountain does show up in a long shot (as the one in this post), therefore I belive this photo is not from Ziarat but from one of the’galliat’.
I have seen this image (or VERY similar) at Flickr: It is the Governer’s House in Nathiagalli.