Tour of Italy 3 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Florence

Literally meaning "work", an opera incorporates music with the spoken parts of a play. Because ancient Greek plays included music and drama, many people believe Greece should be considered the birthplace of opera. Likewise, medieval plays incorporated chanting.

While these may be the ancestors of the opera, today 16th century Florence is considered to be its birthplace. Earlier Florentine theater had incorporated some elements of opera: musical interludes were played between acts and to also signal the passage of time. "Dafne", the story of Apollo falling in love with the nymph Daphne, by Jacopo Peri, is considered to be the first opera, and was produced in 1598.

Answer: The Prince

"The Prince" has been examined, re-examined, and examined again by political philosophers since it was published in 1513 by Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli. In order to understand why the treatise was written, one must understand what was going on in Machiavelli's life.

It was a time of violence and bloodshed within Italian cities. Political and military alliances were continually being made and then changing, and one of the big players in the drama was the Roman Catholic pope. A highly educated man, Machiavelli was appointed to a job where he created official documents for the city of Florence.

He also served as a diplomat, making many trips to Rome to meet with the pope. For a short while he was in charge of the militia of Florence. And then it all went away. Florence lost a battle at Prato to the Medici.

The government of the city was turned upside down. Machiavelli was imprisoned, accused of plotting against the Medici, and tortured. After being released, Machiavelli went home and wrote "The Prince".

Some say that at least in part the essay was written to gain favor with the Medici who were ruling Florence. Machiavelli wanted to resume his work in the government, but that never happened. Others believe that he wrote "The Prince" in order to give his advice on what a ruler needed to do to unify Italy. Was he manipulative, ruthless, and deceptive as the term Machiavellian today implies, or was the situation in Italy so grave that it needed something, well, Machiavellian, to happen? By the way, Machiavelli went on to write plays and poetry, but never worked in government again. He died in 1527.

Answer: Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi

Giuseppe Garibaldi, perhaps most noteworthy for his efforts involving the unification of Italy, is known as the Hero of Two Worlds because of his additional work in South America in the 1830s. While he was in exile, he became involved in an incident involving Brazil and Uruguay. Who knew that he was not just a hero in Italy but also in Uruguay?! He is credited with using guerilla warfare to gain the independence of Uruguay, forming an Italian militia in 1834 from expatriates who were living in Montevideo.

It was there that his followers wore Red Shirts for the first time. In 1860 his group of 1,089 volunteers, called the Expedition of the Thousand, once again donned the Redshirts in order to free the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from the House of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a branch of the Spanish royal family. Over the course of the invasion, Garibaldi's support grew, and by March 17, 1861, the land had been freed, the people had voted, and the Kingdom of Italy was established.

Answer: Magna Gracia

Suffering from a lack of natural resources and overcrowding, the ancient Greeks had no choice but to send colonists to other places. They began in the eastern area of modern day Turkey, an area they called Ionia, and migrated to the shores of the Black Sea.

It shouldn't be a surprise that they especially favored the southern part of the Italian peninsula, as well as the island of Sicily, since the area was relatively close by and had what they needed - good farm land and no opposition to foreign settlement. Greek colonization not only benefited agricultural interests, it also provided raw materials and new markets for trade.

As time passed, the people who came into contact with Greek colonies in Italy benefited from the cultural exchange that took place.

In the words of the Roman poet Horace, "Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit et artes intulit agresti Latio". Greece was conquered, but the Greek culture took possession of Rome.

Answer: Holy See

People are accustomed to hearing about Vatican City and how the pope of the Catholic Church has "exclusive domination" of the area, and that is true. But the term Holy See denotes his worldwide jurisdiction over the Catholic Church and the government within the Church.

The term "see" is derived from the Latin for "sedes", meaning seat. In other words, it refers to the Bishop's chair - the cathedra - from where he rules. The Church believed that the Bishop of Rome was the successor to Peter, and, even though there were other bishops, over time and tradition, the Bishop of Rome became the pope, the "father of the Church".

But it didn't just come out of tradition. The Edict of Milan (313) recognized the Church's status and so did the Edict of Thessalonica (380), when Christianity was made the state religion of the Roman Empire.

The Papal States (756-1870) were recognized as being under the control of the pope. Fast forward to 1929 when the Lateran Treaty between the Holy See and Italy established Vatican City as the property of the Holy See, which is considered to be an absolute monarchy.

Answer: Gelato

Although gelato is called "Italian ice cream" by some, I can assure you, it is way better than ice cream! Not only is it lighter and more flavorful, it is also lower in fat and calories. Invented in the late 1600s by Francesco Procopio del Coltelli, gelato was first introduced in Paris at his café. Gelato uses less heavy cream and eggs - some types have no eggs at all - and it is lighter because it contains less air, as it is churned at a slower rate. Finally, gelato is served at a warmer temperature than ice cream so it is not frozen hard as a rock; it always has a smoother texture.

Answer: Campione d'Italia

The idea about enclaves and exclaves can be very confusing because many times an enclave is also an exclave. Just to make it clear - an enclave is a piece of land that is totally surrounded by a foreign territory. In the case of Italy, both Vatican City and San Marino are independent states that are completely surrounded by Italy. Going on with the Italian example, an exclave would be a piece of land that belongs to Italy, but is within a foreign territory.

This is the case with Campione d'Italia, which is completely surrounded by Switzerland. So it is an exclave of Italy, but an enclave of Switzerland. Are you still with me? In 777 the land that is Campione d'Italia was inherited by the archbishopric of Milan in a will and ownership was transferred to the abbey of Sant-Ambrogio.

In 1512 the area surrounding the abbey, called Ticino, was gifted by the Pope to the people of Switzerland. Ticino decided to become part of the Swiss Confederation in 1798, but the people of Campione d'Italia wanted to continue to be part of Lombardy.

Answer: Sophia Loren

The term "Golden Age of Hollywood" is used to describe the production of classic American films from approximately 1913-1969. At the age of 85 as of her recent birthday on September 20, 2019, Loren is considered to be the last surviving star from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

In 1962 she won the Academy Award for Best Actress for "Two Women", and she was nominated for the same award in 1965 for "Marriage Italian Style". With a very long list of film credits, awards, and other honors, she was the recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 1990 for being "one of the genuine treasures of world cinema..." She was listed 21st on the list made by the American Film Institute.

Answer: Aeneas

Aeneas was a minor member of the Trojan royal family who fought with honor during the Trojan War according to Homer ("Iliad"). He was unhappy with Priam, the King of Troy, because he felt like he was not allowed to contribute in the way he desired. One of Hector's lieutenants, he fought against Diomedes and Achilles; both times he was saved by the gods. Venus, his mother, kept watch over him, as did Apollo and Neptune. Somehow it was implied that Aeneas was destined for future greatness. At the end of the Trojan War, after the Greeks entered Troy using the Trojan Horse, there was widespread killing and destruction. Very few Trojans escaped the wrath of the Greeks, but Aeneas, his father, son, and some of his friends did.

After a brief layover in Carthage, the group found their way to Latium, and eventually the descendants of Aeneas founded Rome.

The story was recounted by the poet Virgil in his "Aeneid".

Answer: Leaning Tower of Pisa

Interestingly, THE Leaning Tower is not the only tower in Pisa, which is the Greek word for marshy, that leans! The bell tower at the church of St. Nicola, among several others, does also, due to the soft ground in the area! The ground was broken for beginning of construction on the Tower of Pisa, which is located behind the Pisa Cathedral, in 1173. Just five years later it was already leaning! A series of wars stalled construction and the project was not completed until 1372.

The tower suffered from a shallow foundation and soft, sandy ground almost from the very beginning. Did you know that during his term in office, Benito Mussolini resolved to repair the tower because he felt it was an eyesore? His workers drilled holes in the foundation - apparently lots of them - and then filled them with grout, making the tower sink deeper into the soft soil.