The City Known As.... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pavia, Italy

Several other cities (none listed among the possible answers) claim the title, too, among them Prague, in the Czech Republic, and Ascoli Piceno in Italy, but the betting is that Pavia was the first to be known by the name. Indeed, Pavia was known as Civitas Centum Turrium as far back as the year 1100.

The mania for building towers in Pavia was all about pride of family - building a tower, evidently, was the mediaeval equivalent of "he who dies with the most toys, wins". By the year 1300, many of the towers had already tumbled down, but the name persisted.

A map of the town made in 1525 shows that some 50 of the towers were still standing.

Answer: Oxford, England

It was the poet Matthew Arnold who was responsible for this most apt description of the beautiful university town. In his poem 'Thyrsis' he described Oxford as "that sweet city with her dreaming spires". The spires are much older than the poem!

Answer: Caerleon-on-Usk, Wales

Caerleon on Usk (in Welsh Caerllion ar Wysg) is in Gwent in Wales and local legend has it that this is where King Arthur held his court. Caerleon was also a garrison town for the Roman legions. The City of Legions monicker probably has more to do with the Romans than it does with Arthur, come to think of it. I mean, you couldn't refer to a handful of knights at a Round Table as legions, could you? Just as a passing note of trivia, the Welsh word for the Usk is Wysg, which has the same Celtic root as the Scottish 'uisge', which we all know is the root word for whiskey. Actually, both 'wysg' and 'uisge' mean 'water'.

Answer: Medina, Saudi Arabia

Medina is known as the City of Refuge because it was to Medina that Mohammed fled when he was forced out of Mecca in 622. It is also known as the City of the Prophet, for obvious reasons. Under Mosaic Law in ancient Israel, the cities of Ramoth, Kedesh, Bezer, Shechem, Hebron and Golam were designated as Cities of Refuge for those who were suspected of murder.

The asylum seekers were tried and, if the crime of homicide was proved against them, asylum was withdrawn and the next of kin of the murderers' victims were allowed to have their way with them. Something of a precursor to the mediaeval concept of sanctuary in churches and monasteries, wouldn't you say?

Answer: Cardiff, Wales

Politicians in power have always had a lavish hand with the pork barrel, and seemingly David Lloyd George, who served as Prime Minister of the British Coalition Government during the First World War, was no exception. After the war, he scattered honours and titles around like so much confetti, and Lord Salisbury (who seems to have forgotten that he was descended from Robert Cecil who was ennobled for services rendered to Tudor monarchs!) alleged "that the government had fixed prices for the sale of titles".

A Royal Commission was established to look into the matter, and revealed the fact that three people who had connections with influential South Wales newspapers were among the recipients. Some wag revised the title of James Thomson's poem 'The City of Dreadful Nights', and henceforth Cardiff became known by the humiliating soubriquet of 'the City of Dreadful Knights'.

Answer: Athens, Greece

Ion (which means 'violet' in Greek, I'm told) was a legendary King of Athens, and therefore, Athens was the city of the Violet Crown! That's according to Aristophanes and Lord Macaulay, anyway. When I was a youngster, one of my favourite authors was Geoffrey Trease, who wrote historical novels for children. One of his best was set in Athens and it was called 'The Violet Crown'.

Answer: New Haven

Home to Yale University, New Haven (first called Quinnipiac because it was built on land originally inhabited by the Quinnipiack tribe) got its present name and its town charter in 1640. The elms for which the city became famous have suffered the ravages of Dutch Elm disease in recent decades, but it is still one of the greenest cities in the U.S.A.

Answer: Cologne, Germany

Frederick Barbarossa removed the bones of the Magi from Milan (how they got there is anybody's guess!)and turned over the relics to the Archbishop of Cologne in 1164. The magnificent Cologne cathedral (the largest Gothic cathedral in Europe) was built, starting in 1268, as a fitting final resting place for the Three Wise Men who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the infant Jesus in Bethlehem.

Their gilded shrine, designed in the thirteenth century by Nicholas of Verdun, is the largest reliquary in the world and is still a magnet for pilgrims.

The coat of arms of the city of Cologne bears three crowns, in honour of the Three Kings.

Answer: Washington, D.C.

It was Charles Dickens who gave Washington this soubriquet, and he was being sarcastic! However, when you think about it, it makes sense!

Answer: Montreal, Canada

Montreal got this nickname because so many of its streets are named for saints, which is not surprising since it was founded in the 1600s as a missionary post by Maisonneuve and Jeanne Mance of the Society of Notre Dame.