Within These Walls Trivia Quiz

Answer: Louis XIV

Founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, Québec City sits on the promontory of Cap Diamant, on the Saint Lawrence River. The settlement remained small for most of the 17th century, but - due to its involvement in conflicts against the British colonies of New England and their Native American allies - rudimentary fortifications were built almost from the very beginning. However, after the settlement of Port Royal (in present-day Nova Scotia) fell to the British in May 1690, a real set of defensive walls was built around the Upper Town. The fortifications were tested for the first time a few months later, when the French routed the British in the Battle of Québec.

The ramparts of Old Québec underwent a series of modifications and additions in the 18th and 19th centuries. As the city grew in the 19th century, the fortifications fell into disrepair: in the late 19th century, Governor-General Lord Dufferin saved the what remained of the city's defenses from demolition. The ramparts were designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1948, and as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (together with the rest of Old Québec) in 1985.

Substantially rebuilt in 1745, the walls extend for 4.6 km (2.9 mi) around the western end of the Upper Town, which is not naturally protected by steep cliffs. Four gates - all erected or rebuilt in the late 19th century - allow access to the Upper Town. The one in the photo is Porte Saint-Louis, built in 1878 to replace the original one.

Louis XIV of the House of Bourbon, known as the Sun King, ruled France as an absolute monarch for 72 years (1643-1715). During his reign, France expanded its territorial claims in North America, and came to control much of the continent.

Answer: pirates

Campeche (officially San Francisco de Campeche) is the capital of the Mexican state of the same name. Located on a large bay in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Yucatán Peninsula, the city was founded in 1540 by Spanish conquistador Francisco de Montejo on the site of the Mayan city of Can Pech. Due to its favourable position, it became the main port of the peninsula, and a lively hub for trade. Unfortunately, Campeche's prosperity attracted the attention of the many pirates and buccaneers that roamed the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.

After Campeche was subjected to multiple raids and attacks for over 150 years, in 1686 French engineer Louis Bouchard de Becour was commissioned to connect all existing defensive works with a wall that would surround the city. The Campeche city wall was 2,560 m (8,398 ft) long, with an irregular hexagonal shape and eight bastions on the corners. Four gates allowed access to the city: one of them, the Puerta de Mar (Sea Gate), is depicted in the photo. Two additional forts were also built on the hills on each side of the city. Many of the original colonial buildings in the city centre have survived in a good state of preservation. The Historic Fortified Town of Campeche was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999.

Other noteworthy colonial walled cities in the Gulf of Mexico/Caribbean region are Havana (capital of Cuba), San Juan (capital of Puerto Rico), and Santo Domingo (capital of the Dominican Republic) - all of them also designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Answer: Colombia

Founded in 1533 by Spanish commander Pedro de Heredia, Cartagena de Indias - named after a port city in southeast Spain - is one of the oldest colonial cities in the Americas. Due to its location on the northern coast of present-day Colombia, it quickly grew into a key port for trade of various goods (including African slaves) between Spain and its large overseas empire. Construction of the walls encircling the town centre and other defenses (namely a series of fortresses) against raids by pirates, attracted by the city's prosperity, began in the late 16th century, and lasted for over 200 years. In order to provide Cartagena with the most effective defensive system, the Spanish Crown hired the service of some of Europe's most renowned military engineers, such as Italian-born Giovanni Battista Antonelli. The work was completed in 1756.

The walls of the old city of Cartagena are 11 km (6.8 mi) long, containing more than 20 small forts and four gates. The 19th-century Puerta del Reloj, pictured in the photo, was the city's main entrance. The old city was divided into three neighbourhoods: San Pedro, where the cathedral and the houses of the wealthy are located; San Diego, where the middle class lived; Getsemani, located outside the walls and inhabited by the working class. Many of Cartagena's historic buildings (such as the Baroque Palace of the Inquisition) are still standing, and in reasonably good condition. The Port, Fortresses and Monuments of Cartagena were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1984.

The province of New Granada included present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Panama and Ecuador. Uruguay is located south of the Equator, while Guyana and Suriname were colonies of Britain and the Netherlands.

Answer: Medina

In North Africa, the word medina (from the Arabic "madinah", meaning simply "city") designates a historic quarter, most often surrounded by walls. Most of these historic districts can be found in Tunisia, Libya and Morocco, while in Algeria fewer have survived. Fes, Morocco's second--largest city, has the distinction of having two medinas, Fes el-Bali (Old Fes) and Fes Jdid (New Fes).

The oldest of the two, and the oldest inhabited walled city in the Arab world, Fes el-Bali was founded by Emir Idris ibn Abdallah in 789 AD to be the capital of his empire. Located on both sides of the Fes River, it was enclosed by a long circuit of defensive walls built of rammed earth (pisé), most of which are still standing. Some of the gates that allowed access to the city have also survived. With its narrow streets and alleys, Fes el-Bali is now a mainly pedestrian area. Fes Jdid was founded in 1276 as the royal citadel and capital of the Marinid Sultanate: indeed, most of it is occupied by the Dar al-Makhzen, the Royal Palace. The medina, which also contained the Mellah, one of Morocco's oldest Jewish quarters, is protected by two lines of walls in which many imposing gates open. The Medina of Fes was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981.

Located in Saudi Arabia, Medina is the second-holiest city in Islam. The three words listed as wrong choices also pertain to Islamic culture and architecture: a madrasa is an educational institution, zenana is a Persian word for the women's quarters in the Indian subcontinent, and alcazaba is a Spanish word of Arabic origin that denotes a fortress or fortified quarter.

Answer: Ethiopia

Located in eastern Ethiopia (which is the only landlocked country of those listed as possible answers), Harar was probably founded between the 7th and the 11th century AD, becoming the most prominent centre for Islam in the Horn of Africa by the end of the Middle Ages. With over 200 mosques and shrines, it is regarded by Muslims as the fourth holiest city after Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem. However, in the 16th century Harar also flourished as a trade centre due to its favourable location and connections with the rest of Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula.

The protective wall (Jugol) around the city was built between the 13th and the 16th centuries. Still intact for the most part, the Jugol is 4 m (13 ft) high, with five gates. The old city within is divided into five quarters, each corresponding to one of the gates (Bari); the gate in the photo, Badro Bari, is located in the south. One of the main attractions of the old city are its traditional houses ("gey garach", meaning "city houses"), whose interior design and elaborate wooden façades are unique to Harar. However, urban encroachment, especially on the northern and western edges of the walled city, is cause for concern - as is the trend towards modernization of the traditional buildings.

The Fortified Historic Town of Harar Jugol was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006.

Answer: Clay

Located at high elevation in west-central Yemen, Sanaa is believed to be at least 2,500 years old. While, according to an Islamic legend, it was founded by Shem, son of Noah, some medieval Arab historians state that the city and its walls were built by the Sabaeans, the founders of the kingdom known as the Biblical Sheba. With a name meaning "well-fortified", Sanaa was probably an important military and trade centre. The partially preserved walls, built of thick, rammed clay (pisé) - one of the oldest building techniques - stand 9-14 m (30-46 ft) high, enclosing the fantastical tower-like buildings of the Old City, with their elaborately decorated façades. It is estimated that the city contains over 6,000 of those ancient skyscrapers - as well as over 100 mosques, 12 hammams (public baths), and many vegetable gardens.

The photo shows the largest and most important of the gates in the walls of Sanaa, the Bab al-Yemen (Yemen Gate), located at the southern end of the Old City; on the opposite side there is another gate, known as Bab es Sha'ub. Though the Yemen Gate is believed to be over 1,000 years old, its current appearance dates from the 17th century.

In 1971, Italian writer and director Pier Paolo Pasolini made a short documentary titled "The Walls of Sanaa", appealing to UNESCO to preserve this beautiful city. The Old City of Sanaa was inscribed in the World Heritage List in 1986, and placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2015. Another ancient Yemeni walled city, Shibam, was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1982.

Answer: Manila

Meaning "within the walls" in Spanish, Intramuros is an apt translation of the title of this quiz. The colonial walled city that forms the core of Manila, the capital of the Philippines, was founded by the Spanish in 1571 on the ruins of a pre-existing settlement named Maynilà. The new city, rich in resources and located in a very favourable position for trade with the Spanish colonies of Mexico on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, was fortified soon after its foundation against the raids of Chinese pirates. Construction of the walls began in 1590, and was completed in the 18th century; a moat was also built both outside and inside the walls, with the Pasig River providing a natural barrier on one side. Covering an area of 54 hectares (160 acres), and stretching for nearly 5 km (3.1 mi), the stone walls have a thickness of 2.4 m (8 ft), and rise to a height of 6.7 m (22 ft).

Inside the walls of Intramuros there were government palaces and residence, churches, convents and institutions of learning. When the Philippines passed under US control in the early 20th century, it was ruled that all new buildings in Intramuros had to conform to the Spanish colonial style. Sadly, the city was almost completely destroyed during the battle of Manila (February-March 1945): only 5% of the original buildings survived, and 40% of the walls were destroyed in the bombings. Declared a historical monument in 1951, Intramuros has been rebuilt over the years. Five of the original gates that opened in the walls, as well as the fortifications, have been restored or rebuilt.

While the church of San Agustín, the only structure inside the walls that survived destruction, is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1993) along with three other Baroque churches in other parts of the country, Intramuros was added to the Tentative List in February 2024.

Answer: Xi'an

While the Chinese word "chéngqiáng" may denote any type of defensive wall (including the iconic Great Wall), it refers most specifically to the walls built around a city or town. Defensive walls have been built in China for thousands of years, and a number of them have survived to this day - some of them found in major cities such as the capital Beijing, Kaifeng, Nanjing, and Xi'an (formerly known as Chang'an). Chinese walls were massive and nearly impossible to batter down, even with cannons or explosives - making Western-style walls look definitely flimsy in spite of being made primarily of stone, while in China a variety of different materials (most often rammed earth) were used.

Built in the late 14th century by Zhu Yuangzhan, the first Ming emperor, the Xi'an City Wall is built of rammed earth faced with grey-blue bricks. Frequently restored during the 20th century, it is one of the city's most popular tourist attractions. Rectangular in shape, the wall has a length of 14 km (8.7 mi), a height of 12 m (39 ft), and an average width of 15 m (49 ft). As shown in the photo, it also has corner, gate and watch towers, and a walkway on top - which can be typically covered in four hours.

The capital of Shaanxi Province in north-western China, Xi'an is located at the eastern end of the fabled Silk Road. The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor with its Terracotta Army was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987, while the Xi'an City Walls were added to the Tentative List in 2008 as part of the City Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Another notable walled Chinese city, Pingyao (in the neighbouring Shanxi Province), became a World Heritage Site in 1997.

Answer: Republic of Venice

Greece's fourth-largest city, the port of Heraklion is known to history buffs by its Italian name of Candia, derived from its original Arabic name. The present city was founded in 824 by Arabs expelled from Al-Andalus, on the site of the former port of the Minoan city of Knossos (whose ruins lie in the vicinity). In 1204, the Republic of Venice bought the city from the Byzantine Empire, and held it until the Ottoman conquest of 1669 - following a siege that lasted 22 months, one of the longest recorded in history. The photo shows one of the relief plaques with the Lion of St Mark, the symbol of the Republic, set into the walls.

Though the Byzantines had built fortifications, those that now surround the historic centre of Heraklion were completely rebuilt by the Venetians, who commissioned the work to some of the most renowned military engineers of the time. Even centuries later, it is not hard to imagine how those walls were able to withstand a siege for so long. Construction began in 1462 - spurred by the expanding power of the Ottoman Turks in the Mediterranean Sea after the fall of Constantinople (1453), as well as the discovery of gunpowder - and lasted over a century. The defensive walls around the city were supplemented by outworks such as the Koules Fortress (Castello a Mare) that protected the harbour entrance. The walls have a roughly triangular shape and seven bastions; of the original four gates, two have survived. Famed Greek writer Nikos Kazantzakis (author of the novel "Zorba the Greek"), who was born in Heraklion, is buried at the highest point of the Martinengo Bastion.

As one of the Late Medieval Bastioned Fortifications in Greece, the fortifications of Heraklion were added to the UNESCO Tentative List in 2014.

Answer: Chester

Europe is a veritable treasure trove for anyone interested in walled cities, and the British Isles are no exception. However, not many cities in either Great Britain or Ireland can boast a nearly intact circuit of walls - especially if such walls date back from the times of Roman Britain. As its name suggests, Chester - the county town of Cheshire - was founded as a Roman "castrum" (fortress) in 79 AD with the name of Deva Victrix.

Originally, the walls were nothing more than a rampart of earth and turf surmounted by a wooden palisade. A few decades later, they were rebuilt of sandstone, but not completed until over a century later, and then improved in the Anglo-Saxon era, when the medieval city was founded. It was not until the mid-12 century that the circuit was completed to enclose what is now the historic centre of Chester. Heavily damaged during the Civil War, the walls ceased to have any defensive purpose, and were restored to serve as a walkway. A Grade I listed building, the walls have a length of almost 3 km (1.8 mi), and are complete with the exception of a 100-metre (330-ft) section. They are now one of the city's foremost tourist attractions, though their conservation and upkeep are cause for concern.

Surprisingly, Chester is the only city of those mentioned in this quiz that has no presence in the UNESCO World Heritage List - not even in the Tentative List, which instead contains York, whose walls are the longest and most complete in England. The three English cathedral cities listed as wrong answer also have substantial remnants of city walls: none of them, however, are located in the northwest of the country.