Russian Road Trip Trivia Quiz

Answer: Vladimir Lenin

There is a lot that can be said about Moscow, so I'll limit it to the Red Square area.

This huge city square lies between the Kremlin (the residence of the Russian President) and the historic merchant quarter Kitai-gorod. At the southeast end can be seen the glorious Krasnaya Ploshchad (The Cathedral of St. Basil the Blessed), which was designed to look like a bonfire at full flame.

Immediately in front of the Kremlin is the Mausoleum of Lenin, which was located there since his death in 1924. Originally, a wooden structure was built to display Lenin's embalmed body, but it was replaced within a few months. The current mausoleum was built in 1929 to replace the previous structure and to better preserve Lenin's remains.

Vladimir Lenin, of course, was the founder of the Soviet Union.

Answer: Novgorod

Saint Sophia Cathedral was originally constructed between 1045 and 1050 A.D. by Vladimir of Novgorod (prince of Novgorod from 1036 to 1052). It has five domes (four silver and one gold) and is the cathedral church of the Archbishop of Novgorod.

The cathedral was not actually named after one of the sainted Sophias (Sophia of Rome or Sophia the Martyr), but actually refers to the Greek translation of wisdom. Thus, the church's subtitle is 'The Holy Wisdom of God'.

Answer: The Hermitage

The Hermitage was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great, and since 1852 it has been accessible to the public. In total, it is comprised of six buildings, one of which is the Winter Palace, a former imperial residence. There are over three million pieces of art in the Hermitage collection, although not all of it is on display.

Answer: Karelia

The Republic of Karelia is one of 21 republics within the Russian Federation. Along with other federal constituents, there are 83 in total that comprised the country in 2013. The republics are specific in that they are areas of non-Russian ethnicity.

Bordering Finland, the Republic of Karelia in the furthest northwest of the Russian Federation, between the White and Baltic Seas, with Petrozavodsk as its capital.

Kizhi Island can be found in the center of Lake Onega, about 42 miles from Petrozavodsk. The aforementioned Church of the Transfiguration of Our Saviour, along with the 9-domed Intercession Church, make up the Kizhi Pogost, which was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990.

Answer: The Battle of Stalingrad (1942-43)

When 'The Motherland Calls' was constructed in 1967, it was the largest statue in the world, although that title has since been eclipsed. It was designed by sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich and structural engineer Nikolai Nikitin.

While the entire structure tops out at 279 feet, that is only when one considers the raised (108 ft) sword held by the statue. The figure itself stands at 170 feet.

The Battle of Stalingrad was a major battle where German forces fought for control of the city (Stalingrad was later renamed Volgograd). It was one of the bloodiest battles in history with between 1.25 and 1.8 million casualties. It was also a turning point in the war for Germany, as they never truly recovered from their losses, affecting their overall war effort.

Answer: Mount Elbrus

The four listed mountains are the top four on the list of tallest Russian mountains. Mount Elbrus has two summits, the higher of the two (the west summit) stands at 15,810 ft, while the east summit reaches 18,442 ft.

The lower summit was first reached on July 10, 1829 by Khillar Khachirov, while it was not until 1874 that the west summit was conquered by an English expedition led by F. Crauford Grove.

Answer: The Black Sea

Sail Rock is also known as Parus Rock (Skala Parus in Russian). It is located eleven miles southeast of the resort town of Gelendzhik. It truly does look like a sail, sticking out 65 feet from the shore with a height of 82 feet, but only a width of four feet. There is even a hole that looks like something a rope would run through.

Answer: Vladivostok

Vladivostok lies at the far southeastern corner of the vast country of Russia. It can be found at the head of the Golden Horn Bay, just off the Sea of Japan. The name translates from Russian to mean 'the ruler of the East'. To put its location better in mind, it is situated very close to the China-North Korea border.

Vladivostok is the home of Russia's Pacific Fleet and it's the largest port on its eastern coast.

Answer: Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is not the largest lake in the world by surface area, but it is by volume. At 5,387 feet it claims the status of deepest lake in the world, and with its status as 7th largest in area, it's no wonder that Lake Baikal has roughly 20% of the world's unfrozen fresh water.

Lake Baikal was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.

Answer: The Kamchatka Peninsula

There is road access around the Sea of Okhotsk to the Kamchatka Peninsula, but it just seemed like such a long drive! Either way, one needs to take a helicopter flight to actually get to the Valley of Geysers.

The Valley of Geysers is the second largest concentration of geysers in the world (after Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming) with approximately ninety geysers in the space of a three and a half mile long valley. The Valley of Geysers is part of the Kronotsky Nature Preserve, which is itself part of the World Heritage Site 'Volcanoes of Kamchatka'.