A Tea Time Quiz - Ten Cultural 'T's

Answer: Taj Mahal

The famous Taj Mahal, which was designated as a cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, is a mausoleum housing the tombs of both the Shah Jahan and his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, for whom it was built in the mid-17th century. Mumtaz Mahal died in 1631 after giving birth to her 14th child, but it was a further 22 years before the grand structure dedicated to her memory was completed.

In addition to the main white marble building, the complex also consists of a large walled garden with avenues of trees, large sunken flowerbeds and the reflecting pool leading up to the impressive main gate.

The outer structures of the complex, including a mosque, were constructed from a combination of marble and the more common red sandstone associated with Mughal buildings.

The site is a major tourist attraction, receiving millions of visitors every year.

Answer: Tsodilo

The Tsodilo Hills, including their stunning collection of caves and cave paintings, were designated as a UNESCO world heritage site in 2001. In total it is estimated that there are over 4,500 ancient paintings on the walls of Tsodilo's caves. The area is known to have been a site of human habitation for thousands of years, with some paintings being tentatively dated to around 22000 BC.

The site consists of four main hills - Male Hill, Female Hill, Child Hill and one that has remained unnamed - and are of particular historical importance to the semi-nomadic San people of the Kalahari Desert.

They are located in the far north-east of Botswana, over 1,000 kilometres north of the capital city, Gaborone.

Answer: Taxila

The ruined city of Taxila has been protected as a World Heritage Site because it provides an important insight into urban development on the Indian subcontinent in the 1st to 5th centuries AD. However, the city is believed to originally date from the 6th century BC and archaeological evidence has been found for human occupation of the area from the Neolithic period onward. Taxila's buildings included a Buddhist monastery and an Islamic mosque, as well as defensive walls and houses and other structures associated with the city's status as a key trading point on the southern route of the Silk Road. Taxila is also noted as an ancient centre of higher-learning, although the issue of whether it had a university in the modern sense is a debatable point.

Answer: Timgad

Classified as a World Heritage Site in 1982, the remains of the ancient African city of Timgad were only rediscovered in the 1880s after spending hundreds of years preserved under the sands of the Sahara Desert. The city was founded by the Roman Emperor Trajan in around 100 AD and named Colonia Marciana Ulpia Traiana Thamugadi after his parents, his sister and the old Berber name for the area from which the modern form of 'Timgad' is derived. Timgad was under Roman control from the 1st to the 5th centuries AD, but was then attacked by both the Vandals and the Berbers before falling into disrepair and eventually being abandoned.

The original Roman design, based on their traditional grid pattern, remains well-preserved and visitors can still see significant portions of the city's major buildings, including a triumphal arch, library, theatre, basilica and baths.

Answer: Tower of London

The Tower of London has had many uses over its long history since the original White Tower was constructed on the orders of William the Conqueror in 1078. It has been a royal palace, a fortress, a prison and home to the Royal Mint, the Crown Jewels and King Henry III's polar bear (one of the more famous inhabitants of the Royal Menagerie).

It was also the place of execution for several high-profile prisoners - including Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey - although the majority of the Tower's condemned prisoners actually met their fate on nearby Tower Hill rather than in the grounds of the Tower itself.

While the Tower was once London's largest and most impressive building, today it sits in the shadow of more modern landmarks such as Tower Bridge and The Shard.

Answer: Troy

Homer's 'The Iliad' tells the story of the ingenious use of a "Trojan horse", a key ploy in the Greeks' defeat of the city of Troy in the Trojan War. Although 'The Iliad' is about Greek mythology, Troy was, in the 19th century, actually associated with the archaeological discovery of the remains of a major city in an area of western Turkey that later became known as Hisarlik.

The ruins were discovered by an archaeologist named Frank Calvert in 1865 and are believed to date back to around 3000 BC.

They cover nine major periods of the city's history (imaginatively termed Troy I to Troy IX) - Troy VII (dated to around 1300-1200 BC) is the historical period believed to have been immortalised by Homer. The area was declared a UNESCO cultural world heritage site in 1998.

Answer: Trogir

The town of Trogir is located to the west of the city of Split on Croatia's scenic coastline on the Adriatic Sea. The medieval old town, which is the part that was designated a UNESCO cultural world heritage site in 1997, can be found on a small island just off the mainland.

The old town is connected by bridges to both the mainland and the larger neighbouring island of Èiovo and is one of the best-preserved examples of Venetian Romanesque-Gothic architecture in Europe. Its historic buildings include city walls, gates, a castle, a cathedral and various palaces. Trogir's connection with the Italian city of Venice originally stemmed from strong trading links established in the 11th century, but Trogir later spent nearly 400 years (1420 to 1797) under Venetian rule.

Answer: Tokaj

The Tokaj wine region (or Tokaj-Hegyalja) is mainly located in north-east Hungary, but a smaller section of it can also be found in south-eastern Slovakia. The area included in the cultural UNESCO world heritage site covers over 30,000 acres (13,250 hectares), including both village settlements and their associated vineyards.

Although Hungary and Slovakia are probably not the first countries that come to mind when asked to name famous wine regions, Tokaj is dominated by a wine production industry that is believed to have started over 1,000 years ago and has a documented history dating back to the mid-16th century.

It is centred around the valleys of the Tisza and Bodrog rivers and the volcanic geology has been developed to include terracing for the vines, reservoirs to supplement the water supply and man-made caves to act as wine cellars.

Answer: Tyre

Located in southern Lebanon, Tyre was originally two separate settlements - Tyre on a small island off the coast and Ushu on the opposite mainland. However, Alexander the Great first built a causeway to connect the two in 332 BC and the land connection has continued to develop over the centuries thanks to the deposition of silt. Tyre has been a major port city and centre for commerce for over 4,000 years, dating back to its foundation by the Phoenicians - the people of a collection of city states known for their maritime trading.

In particular it was the source of the rich purple dye (known as Tyrian purple) favoured by European royalty in the medieval period. Oddly enough though it is not known for any notable role in the rubber production industry and has no connection to the round, black tyres used on vehicles...

Answer: Tower of Hercules

The Tower of Hercules was designated as a Spanish National Monument in the 1930s and as cultural UNESCO world heritage site in 2009. It is believed to have been constructed during the rule of the Roman Emperor Trajan (98-117 AD) to a similar design as that of the Pharos of Alexandria - one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

It was originally 34 metres (112 feet) tall but was given a makeover and significant extension in the late 18th century that took it to a total of 55 metres (180 feet).

The name "Tower of Hercules" is a relatively modern one as prior to the 20th century it was known as the Farum Brigantium - as Brigantium was the Roman name for A Coruña. The modern name derives from a story that the mythological hero Hercules slew a giant and built the city on top of its burial site.