What In The Wide World Is That? Quiz

Answer: Sistine Chapel

The Sistine Chapel was built in the late fifteenth century on the site of a mediaeval hall known as the Cappella Magna. A team of Renaissance painters, including Sandro Botticelli and Domenico Ghirlandaio, were called in from 1481 to paint frescos on the walls.

Michelangelo, one of Ghirlandaio's apprentices, worked on the ceiling of the chapel for four years from 1508. He returned just over twenty years later in 1536 to spend another five years creating "The Last Judgement" fresco behind the altar.

Answer: Victoria Falls

Scottish missionary David Livingstone is reported to be the first European to have set eyes on the falls, although this was from upstream. Queen Victoria was on the throne at the time so Livingstone chose to name them after her. The indigenous name means "smoke that thunders".

Although it does not break any records for volume of water, width or height, Victoria Falls is considered to be the world's largest (based on a width x height figure). The falls are just over 1,700 metres wide with a drop of 108 metres. After the falls, the river squeezes down to a 110 metres width and a series of gorges.

Answer: Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat is one of a hundred or so stone temples in Cambodia. It was built in the twelfth century during the Khmer Empire and is the world's largest religious monument. It started off as a Hindu temple to the god Vishnu and then was converted to Buddhism.

Aerial laser scans in 2012 have revealed that the temple complex was surrounded by a low-density city covering some 1,000 square kilometres and now reclaimed by jungle. Failure in the city's waterworks seems to have contributed to the city's demise.

Answer: Milford Sound

Milford Sound is one of the top tourist destinations in New Zealand. It lies in Fiordland National Park in the south-west of South Island. It is also quite wet with an average of around 6.8 metres (268 inches) of rain annually. This makes for some interesting waterfall scenery. Strangely perhaps, the driest months are during the winter.

Answer: Maldives

The Maldives is an island nation in the Indian Ocean. Independent for most of its history, the British, Portuguese and Dutch have had brief spells of ruling the nation. The highest natural point is around 2.3 metres (or 90 inches) above sea level, which makes it the lowest country in the world. Rising sea levels are understandably of some concern to its population.

Tourism and fishing are the mainstays of the economy with tourism providing the vast majority of tax dollars for the government.

Answer: Stonehenge

A picture of Stonehenge would have been too obvious so this photo is a bit cryptic.

Stonehenge is an ancient monument found in Wiltshire in the UK dating perhaps to as long ago as 3,000 BC. The stone circle phase of development seems to have covered a period of a thousand years. Since no written records from that time exist to explain its purpose, all we have are theories mainly based on archaeological evidence. These include it being a place of healing, a religious site, a burial site, a place for ancestor worship, an astronomy site, or a mix of some or all of these at different times.

Answer: Cleopatra

There are actually three obelisks bearing her name and located in New York, Paris and London. A fourth, the twin of the Paris one, remains at Luxor in Egypt. None of them have any connection with Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and were already at least a thousand years old by the time she came on to the scene.

The London needle was presented to the British government in 1819 but, since the gift did not include transportation costs, it was not until 1877 that the needle was dug out of the ground. A purpose-built pontoon was constructed and the needle encased inside. A storm in the Bay of Biscay nearly sank the needle however after being abandoned and given up as lost, it was found four days later still afloat. It was finally put in place on the Victoria Embankment in 1878.

Answer: Central Park

Central Park had its beginnings during the mid-1800s and now extends to around 840 acres (340 hectares) in the middle of Manhattan Island, New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met) and the Central Park Zoo are amongst its attractions. 'The Big Apple' is a nickname for New York City.

Some statistics: about 1,600 people had to be evicted from the area and a number of properties levelled before construction could start; more than four million trees, shrubs and plants were transplanted into the park; ten million cartloads of material were removed; and apparently more gunpowder was used than during the Battle of Gettysburg in order to create some of the roads.

As mentioned in the question, Central Park is the location of one of "Cleopatra's Needles". This one arrived in 1881 after being gifted to the United States for being a friendly neutral power to Egypt. It is the twin of the one in London.

Answer: Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower was built as the entrance arch for the 1889 World's Fair which was held in Paris that year. The tower was named after its designer and is made of wrought iron. It was the tallest structure in the world until 1930. The tower was meant to be removed after twenty years however its use as a communication mast saved it. It is a major tourist destination. The picture was taken from the tower and looks down one of the legs.

The Place de Concorde (where Marie-Antoinette lost her head) is also the site of another of those Cleopatra's Needles although these days it is often referred to as the Luxor Obelisk. It was gifted to France in 1826. Its twin remains at Luxor, Egypt.

Answer: Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu (meaning 'old peak') is believed to have been built during the fifteenth century and abandoned a century later. The city sits at a height of 2,430 metres. It is possible that a smallpox epidemic originating from the Spanish conquistadors, caused its demise. The Spanish never managed to find the city themselves. The site was brought to the attention of the world in 1911 through the American historian Hiram Bingham III. It became an UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983.

The llama (like the one shown in the photo) is native to South America. The Incas used them as beasts of burden. The name 'llama' was adopted from the Peruvian word for the animal.