Patron Saints of European Cities and Villages Quiz

Answer: Saint Vitus

The Prague cathedral was erected in honour of Saint Vitus alone. In 1997 the cathedral was also dedicated to the other Czech saints Adalbert and Wenceslas.
Saint Vitus died about 300 AD, after various tortures. According to medieval paintings, he was boiled in a cauldron over a hot fire. One of this paintings adds a person who stirs the cauldron in which Vitus is being boiled.
The origin of the practice is unknown, but in the late middle ages people would dance before shrines dedicated to Saint Vitus on his name day (June 15). Because of this practice, Vitus was promoted to patron saint of dancers.
Saint Bartholomew is the patron saint of (among many other places) the Czech city Plzen. Saint Nicholas patronizes children and is also the patron saint of many cities, including two cities in Belgium named after him. Saint Anthony of Padua is the patron saint of Padua, Italy (evidently) and Lisbon, Portugal - to name but a few.

Answer: Melk

Coloman was born somewhere in the British isles - possibly in Ireland. He set out on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. As he wandered into Stockerau in 1012 (a small town near Vienna), soldiers got hold of him. At that time, the Austrians were constantly bickering with Moravia and Bohemia. As Coloman did not speak German, his interrogation went quite wrong. The Viennese convicted him of espionage, and they executed him by hanging. After Coloman died, several miracles were reported: his body was well preserved after more than a year, unharmed by bird and beast. The scaffold on which Coloman was executed blossomed and spread fine fragrances.
The Austrians eventually recognised Coloman as a saint, executed by mistake. When the abbey of Melk was founded in 1089, about 90 km west of Vienna, the abbey was in need of some relics. So Coloman's body was transferred to Melk, and a tomb was erected for him.
Salzburg has several patron saints, including Saint Rupert of Salzburg who died there. The patron saint of Vienna is Clemens Maria Hofbauer, a nineteenth-century preacher in Vienna. Linz is patronized by Saint Florian, who is said to have saved a town from burning down by throwing a single bucket of water.

Answer: Sainte Genevieve

Sainte Genevieve lived probably from 422 until 502. She converted to Christianity early in life and became a nun. When Attila and the Huns came to France (in 451) rampaging and pillaging, Genevieve led the people in prayer during several days. And without having to fight, the Parisians saw the Huns retreating.

In 464 Genevieve once more intervened in favour of Paris: when Childeric besieged the city, Genevieve slipped away and brought food for the besieged. The third time that Genevieve rescued the Parisian population, was long after she died.

In 1129 an epidemic disease was overcome when Genevieve's relics were devotedly paraded through the city. Saint Andrew is one of the patron saints of Bordeaux. Sainte Blandina of Lyon is the patron saint for Lyon. And Victor of Marseilles is the patron saint of the harbour city he was named after.

Answer: Dubrovnik

Saint Blaise was a doctor in Armenia. He cured many ailing persons and animals. What follows was only recorded 400 years after his death.
One day the Roman governor of Armenia caught Blaise and convicted him for being a Christian (or perhaps more to the point: for not respecting the Roman deities, including the Emperor). At first, Blaise was thrown in a lake with a millstone on his feet. But Blaise rose from the water, walked upon the water and challenged his persecutors to do the same. Blaise was then imprisoned with some others, among them a child he cured of choking on a fishbone. Finally the governor decided to have Blaise beaten with wool combs, and subsequently beheaded.
Because of the incident with the fishbone, Blaise is best known as patron saint against respiratory ailments. Because of the wool combs, he is also invoked by woolworkers. As to patronizing places, Dubrovnik comes into mind: every year the people of Dubrovnik march around the church, holding relics of Saint Blaise (including a bone of his throat).
Medjugorje is in Bosnia-Herzegovina and has Saint James the Greater as patron. The patron saint of the Hungarian capital Budapest is Saint Donatus of Munstereifel. And Saint John of Capistrano is one of the patron saints of the Serbian capital Belgrade.

Answer: Michael

While all the saints mentioned here did have some enmity for dragons, only Michael is an archangel.
Saint Michael is mentioned in the Bible on a few occasions, most notably in Revelation as the leader of the heavenly hosts that will fight the devil's hordes on Judgment Day. Since the Middle Ages, statues and paintings have shown Saint Michael standing upon a dragon he just slaughtered.
Saint George is another famous dragon slayer. A Roman soldier, he travelled to Trebizonde (Turkey, now Trabzon), slayed a dragon and freed a princess. Saint George is not a patron saint of London, but he does patronize England.
Saint Theodore was another Roman soldier. He slaughtered a dragon, destroyed a pagan temple and boasted of being a Christian - upon which he was martyred.
Saint Philip the Apostle is only by his own word a dragon slayer. The apocryphal Acts of Phillip tell how he visited the temple of Apollo in Hierapolis and vanquished a dragon.

Answer: Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas was bishop of Myra (at that time Asia Minor, nowadays Turkey). He died approximately in 346 AD. One of the stories about Nicholas is that he heard of a poor man with three young daughters. As the man could not afford a dowry, he decided to send his daughters to a brothel when they reached majority (12 years, at that time). But the evening before each daughter's twelfth birthday, Nicholas secretively threw a purse with gold through the window, thus saving the daughters from prostitution.
Another legend is that an innkeeper killed three young boys and hid the corpses in barrels of brine, but Nicholas revived them and the innkeeper repented.
It is not clear why Limerick chose Saint Nicholas as a patron saint. Perhaps I ought to write some limerick about this, but a typical limerick contains humour unfit to describe saintly matters.
Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne, Saint Brendan of Clonfert and Saint Patrick are well-known Irish saints. Brendan is the patron saint of Clonfert, and Saint Patrick is the patron saint of many places, including the Irish dioceses of Armagh, Dromore and Kilmore. Aidan is the patron saint of the English county Northumbria.

Answer: Blacksmith

Sint-Eloois-Winkel is a hamlet in West-Flanders, some 5 km from Kortrijk. Its name literally translates to "Saint Eligius' Shop", so it is quite obvious why Saint Eligius is the patron saint.
Saint Eligius was a blacksmith in Noyon, in the north of France. Legend tells that once Eligius was confronted with a horse that could not be equipped with new horseshoes in the normal way: it was too afraid to allow such procedure. So Eligius chopped off one of the forelegs, fitted a new horseshoe on the amputated leg, and miraculously put the leg back in place.
The actor, to whom I refer in an incorrect option, is Saint Josse - a Roman actor who converted on stage and subsequently was martyred. He gave his name to the Brussels suburb Saint-Josse-ten-Noode.
The fisher I mentioned was Saint Peter. He gave his name to several towns and villages in Belgium, for instance Sint-Pieters-Voeren (near Liège).
Saint Paul was initially occupied as tentmaker. He gave his name to the village Sint-Pauwels in East Flanders.

Answer: Saint Andrew

Saint Andrew was one of the twelve original apostles. After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Andrew travelled, probably around the Black Sea, preaching the new faith. But when he arrived in Patras (Achaia, Greece), the local people did not appreciate his message. They decided to martyr him by crucifixion. According to some sources, Andrew demanded not to be crucified on an ordinary cross as Jesus was, so he was bound on a saltire (X-shaped cross).
Saint Andrew is patron saint of Russia, Ukraine, Greece, but also of Scotland, and the oldest golf course in Scotland was named after him.
Saint Thomas is the patron saint of the Italian towns Certaldo and Ortona. Saint Philip patronizes over 30 cities and towns in Italy, as well as the Belgian city Philippeville. Saint James the Greater is the patron saint of Compostela in Spain.

Answer: Bremen

The statue including the rooster refers to a fairy tale recorded by the brothers Grimm. The statue consists of a donkey, topped by a dog, topped by a cat, topped by a rooster. It refers to the tale of the Bremen town musicians: four farm animals past their prime went to Bremen with the hope of earning a living there as musicians. On their way they chased a gang of robbers.
It is not because of this rooster fairy tale that Saint Peter (who betrayed Jesus thrice before the rooster crowed) became Bremen's patron saint. But the city's cathedral was dedicated to Saint Peter, and Saint Peter's attribute (the keys to heaven) has inspired the city arms, that show us one single silver key on a red background.
Dortmund is patronized by Reinhold of Cologne. The patron saint for Munich is Saint Benno. And Saint Nicholas and Sainte Hedwig are the two patron saints of Berlin.

Answer: Saint Clare

Saint Clare (1194-1253) was born in Assisi and also died there. When she heard Saint Francis preaching, she decided to leave home and follow Francis, aiding him on his journeys. Soon other women congregated with Saint Clare. The group became known as "The Poor Ladies of San Damiano" (the church in the vicinity of which they dwelled).
Once when Clare was too ill to attend mass, she had a vision of the complete mass on a blank wall across her bed. This miracle explains why Clare is the patron saint of television: she saw and heard the mass from afar.
Soon after Saint Clare's death, the congregation was renamed the Order of Saint Clare.
Saint Reparata is one of the patron saints of Firenze (Florence). Saint Martina is one of the patron saints of Rome. Saint Lucy of Syracuse is one of the patron saints of Syracuse, Mantua, Perugia and Venice.