All That Glitters Is Gold Trivia Quiz

Answer: St Mark

Built mostly in the 11th century, St Mark's Basilica in Venice's eponymous square is one of the most readily recognizable landmark buildings in the world, with its five domes, elaborate sculptures, and glittering gold mosaics. Indeed, the interior of the Basilica - aptly nicknamed Chiesa d'Oro (Church of Gold) - is covered by a staggering 8000 m² (86,111 sq ft) of mosaics created between the 11th and the 13th century, most of which have a background of gold glass tesserae. Behind the main altar stands the Pala d'Oro, a retable (altarpiece) crafted in gold, silver, enamel, and precious and semiprecious stones. It was commissioned by Venice to Byzantine goldsmiths between the 10th and the 12th century; various elements were added over the following 200 years. The altarpiece, which depicts Venetian and Byzantine rulers as well as religious figures, is 3 m (9.8 ft) wide and 2 m (6.6 ft) high. Only shown during liturgical celebrations, the rest of the time the Pala d'Oro is covered by a painted wooden panel known as "Pala Feriale"; it can, however, be viewed by visitors for a small fee.

Another beautiful, gold-related landmark in Venice is the Late Gothic palace on the Canal Grande known as the Ca' d'Oro (Golden House). Unfortunately, the lavish gilt and polychrome ornamentation of its façade has long disappeared. The Basilica and the Ca' d'Oro are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site designated as "Venice and its Lagoon" in 1987.

Answer: Innsbruck

Innsbruck's most famous landmark, the Goldenes Dachl, or Golden Roof, is a Late Gothic, three-storey bay window with a raised loggia protruding from the façade of an early-15th-century house in the centre of the city, the capital of the Austrian state of Tyrol. The loggia was added to the building, the residence of Tyrol's rulers, by Maximilian I, Archduke of Austria and future Holy Roman Emperor, on the occasion of his wedding to Bianca Maria Sforza in March 1494. The striking balcony, designed by Nikolaus Türing the Elder, was meant to allow the imperial couple to watch tournaments and other events that took place in the square below. The roof that gives the site its name is 3.7 m (12.1 ft) high, and covered by 2,657 fire-gilded copper tiles; the balcony is decorated with murals and reliefs, one of which depicts Maximilian I with both his wives, Mary of Burgundy (who died in 1482) and Bianca Maria Sforza. The original tiles were replaced by copies in the 20th century; six of those tiles can be viewed in the adjoining museum, dedicated to Maximilian I and his time.

Innsbruck hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976; the European cities listed as wrong answers also hosted the Winter Olympics, though only once each.

Answer: Hermitage, St Petersburg

The Gold Drawing Room is located in the Winter Palace - the main building of the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, and the former residence of the Russian Imperial family, built in the 1730s for Empress Anna Ivanovna by Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Like much of the palace, the large, cavernous room was rebuilt after the fire that severely damaged the palace in 1837. With its opulent, Byzantine-inspired decoration, it was the most formal room in the private apartments of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, the first wife of Tsar Alexander II. The room contains a marble and jasper fireplace embellished with a mosaic, luxurious gilded chandeliers, and a magnificent parquet floor.

Gold glitters everywhere in the Winter Palace - not only in the lavish decorations, but also in the exhibits. The museum's two treasure galleries, the Gold Room and the Diamond Room, house a peerless collection of jewellery and other precious ornaments, most of which belonged to the Russian imperial family. In the Gold Room, stunning pieces of Ancient Greek and Scythian gold, as well as Eastern jewellery and ceremonial weapons, are displayed; the Diamond Room is dedicated to European and Russian jewellery dating from the Renaissance to the early 20th century.

The Hermitage State Museum is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site designated as "Historic Centre of St Petersburg and Related Group of Monuments" in 1990.

Answer: 1990s

Located on the right bank of the Dnieper River, in the historic centre of Kiev, St Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery was one of the many casualties of the Stalinist regime. The monastery was originally built in the early 12th century by Sviatopolk II, supreme ruler of the Kievan Rus, who dedicated it to his patron saint, St Michael Archangel. In the 18th century its exterior was rebuilt in the Ukrainian Baroque style, with the addition of six domes, while the interior was kept in the Byzantine style, with its magnificent 12th-century mosaics and frescoes. The structure was also expanded by the addition of the Economic Gates, the belltower and the Refectory of St John the Divine to the original medieval cathedral.

Sadly, those 18th-century modifications led the Soviet authorities to believe that very little remained of the original medieval construction: therefore, between 1934 and 1936 the monastery was demolished because of its perceived lack of artistic and historical value. The cathedral's Byzantine mosaics were removed: some of them were relocated in Saint Sophia's Cathedral, where they can be viewed today, while others were sent to various Russian museums. When Ukraine regained its independence in August 1991, plans were made to rebuild the monastery, which was finally opened on 30 May, 1999. The monastery is now the headquarters of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, created at the end of 2018.

Answer: Dome of the Rock

One of Jerusalem's most celebrated landmarks, the Dome of the Rock ("Qubbat al-Sakhrah" in Arabic, "Kippat ha-Shela" in Hebrew) was built at the end of the 7th century AD during the Umayyad Caliphate. It stands on Temple Mount, the site of the Second Jewish Temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD - also believed to be the place where the Prophet Muhammad began his Night Journey, and where Abraham took his son, Isaac, to be sacrificed. The Dome of the Rock is not a mosque intended for public worship, but rather a "mashhad" (shrine for pilgrims), built around the sacred Foundation Stone from which Muhammad ascended to Heaven accompanied by the angel Gabriel. A cave known as the Well of Souls lies beneath the Stone.

The Dome of the Rock stands in the middle of a huge precinct called al-Haram al-Sharif ("The Noble and Sacred Enclosure"), which also houses the Al-Aqsa mosque and other religious buildings. The structure was influenced by Byzantine architecture, since at the time it was built Islamic architecture as such did not yet exist; it has an octagonal plan, topped by a round wooden dome with a diameter of 20.20 m (66.3 ft) and a height of 20.48 m (67.2 ft). The outer walls are decorated with faience tiles; marble, mosaics and more faience tiles cover the interior of the shrine in a profusion of bright colours and shimmering gold. An inscription, 240 m (787 ft) long, runs all around the interior of the building; it includes one of the earliest surviving examples of verses from the Koran. The original gold coating of the dome disappeared over the centuries; during renovations in the 1960s, the dome's lead covering was replaced by a more durable aluminum bronze alloy. In the 1990s the dome was plated with 24-karat gold leaf, thanks to a generous donation by King Hussein of Jordan.

The Dome of the Rock is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of "Jerusalem and its Walls", proposed by Jordan and inscribed in the List in 1981.

Answer: Sikhism

Also known as Harmandir Sahib ("Abode of God"), the Golden Temple is located in Amritsar (short for Amrit Sarovar, "Pool of Nectar"), the holiest city of Sikhism, in the northern Indian state of Punjab. The city was first established in 1577 by the fourth Sikh guru, Ram Das, who completed the pool around which the gurdwara (a house of worship for followers of Sikhism) was built a few years later. In 1604 the first version of the Golden Temple was completed; it was destroyed in 1762, after over 150 years of strife between the Sikhs the Muslim rulers of India and Afghanistan. The temple complex was rebuilt between 1776 and 1784, and renovated by Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire, in the early 19th century; in 1830, the sanctum (the temple proper) was covered in gold foil donated by Singh. The temple was damaged in Operation Blue Star, a military action launched by Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in June 1984 to capture a Sikh leader and his followers, who were sheltering in the complex. This event, which caused the death of hundreds of people, led to Gandhi's assassination a few months later.

The Golden Temple is built on a small island in the centre of a pool, connected to land by a marble causeway; the Sikhs believe that bathing in the pool has a restorative and purifying effect. It is a square, two-storey building, made of white marble covered with gilded copper plates, designed in a style that combines elements of Mughal (Islamic) and Rajput (Hindu) architecture. In front of the temple stands the Akal Takht, one of the seats of authority in Sikhism - a white, five-storey building crowned by a gilded dome, which was demolished after the damage sustained in 1984, and rebuilt two years later. The complex also includes two high watchtowers (Ramgarhia Bunga), a clock tower, a Langar (kitchen and dining hall), two museums dedicated to Sikh history, and three ancient Ber (jujube) trees.

Answer: Myanmar

Built on the 51-m (167-ft) Singuttara Hill, with its height of 112 m (367 ft) the golden, tapered dome of Shwedagon Pagoda (officially Shwedagon Zedi Daw, "The Great Golden Mountain Stupa") dominates the skyline of Yangon, Myanmar's former capital, known in the colonial era as Rangoon. Traditionally believed to be over 2,500 years old - though first officially documented in the 14th century - the stupa (a mound-like structure containing relics) is one of the country's foremost Buddhist shrines, and Yangon's most important religious building, as well as one of the symbols of the city. In fact, to preserve the iconic temple's prominent status in Yangon's skyline, zoning regulations cap the height of new buildings at 127 m (417 ft) above sea level.

The stupa's bell-shaped dome stands on a brick pedestal covered with real gold plates. The bell is topped by a series of architectural features with picturesque names: the turban band, the inverted alms bowl, the lotus petals, the banana bud, and the umbrella crown ("hti" in Burmese), the finial ornament characteristic of Burmese pagodas. The tip of the "hti", called the diamond bud, is studded with thousands of precious gemstones (including Myanmar's famous rubies). The relics preserved in the temple are associated with Siddharta Gautama, the historical Buddha, as well as the three most recent Buddhas of our present era ("kalpa"). Two huge leogryphs ("chinthe") guard the main entrance to the pagoda. Four stairways, one for each compass direction, lead to the main stupa from the base of the hill; the stupa is surrounded by a multitude of smaller pavilions, bronze bells, and other decorative elements, arranged according to a system derived from Hindu cosmology.

Gold-plated stupas are a prominent feature of Myanmar's cultural heritage, and a number of them can be seen at the UNESCO World Heritage site of Bagan, northwest of Yangon. Renowned British author and Nobel Prize winner Rudyard Kipling described his visit to Shwedagon in his book "From Sea to Sea and Other Sketches, Letters of Travel" (1899).

Answer: True

Officially named Phra Buddha Mahasuwan Patimakon, the Golden Buddha is a seated statue depicted in the pose known as Bhumisparsha Mudra, with one hand touching the ground, and the other in its lap. Made of solid 18-karat gold, the statue is 3 m (9.8 ft) tall, and weighs 5.5 tonnes (6.1 tons): with these figures, the staggering monetary value mentioned in the question should not be too surprising. Though its origins are uncertain, the statue is believed to have originated in the Sukhothai Kingdom (1238-1438): indeed, its egg-shaped head, curved eyebrows and pointed nose are characteristic of the Sukhothai style, while its distinctive long ears hint at Buddha's former royal status.

At some point - probably in the 18th century, during the Burmese-Siamese War - the statue was covered by a layer of painted plaster and coloured glass to hide its true worth, as it was moved from place to place, and eventually forgotten. The temple that has housed the Golden Buddha since 1935, the Wat Traimit in Bangkok, was significantly expanded to make room for it; in 1955, as it was being moved to its new location, the statue fell, and the plaster chipped, revealing the gold beneath. As this happened close to the beginning of the year 2500 of the Buddhist calendar (the 25th Buddhist Era), the event was deemed miraculous by devout Buddhists. It was also found that the statue could be disassembled into nine pieces to make transportation easier.

The Golden Buddha is currently located on the fourth floor of the Wat Traimit, in Bangkok's Old China Town. The temple, which has been open to the public since 2010, draws visitors from all over the world, as well as Buddhist pilgrims.

Answer: Arson

Formerly a villa owned by shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, Kinkaku-ji (official name Rokuon-ji, "Deer Garden Temple") was probably built in the 12th century. After the shōgun's death in 1408, the villa was converted into a Zen Buddhist temple, according to his wishes. The pavilion survived the burning of other buildings in the complex during the Ōnin civil war (1467-1477), but in 1950 it was burned to the ground by a mentally ill novice monk. These events are narrated (though in a fictionalized version) in a novel by famed Japanese author Yukio Mishima, "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" (1956). Rebuilt close to the original in 1955, the present structure, three storeys high, is made of lacquered wood; the two top storeys are covered by a thick layer of gold foil - gold representing spiritual purity in Jōdo (Pure Land Buddhism). The pavilion is also known as Shariden {Reliquary), because of the Buddha relics housed on the top floor. Each of the pavilion's three storeys is designed in a different architectural style; on top of the shingled, pyramid-shaped roof stands a fitting ornament - a beautiful, gilded bronze phoenix. The pavilion, reflected in the calm waters of the aptly-named Kyokochi (Mirror Pond), is surrounded by pine trees and lovely landscaped gardens, created according to descriptions of Buddha's Paradise, and intended to represent the harmony between heaven and earth.

Kinkaku-ji was the model for another Kyoto landmark, the Silver Pavilion (Gingaku-ji), built by Yoshimitsu's grandson, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, in the late 15th century, and also converted into a Zen temple after his death. The building, however, was never covered in silver: its nickname is said to come from the silvery light of the moon shining on its black lacquer walls.

The Golden Pavilion is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site designated as "Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto" in 1994.

Answer: Bogotá

Established at the end of 1939, Bogotá's Museo del Oro is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the capital city of Colombia (which was named after Christopher Columbus). The museum, housed in a large modern building, boasts the world's largest collection of gold artefacts - 33,000 pieces of pre-Columbian gold and tumbaga (an alloy of gold and copper extensively used in pre-Columbian Central and South America) - displayed on its second and third floor. The remaining exhibits are 22,000 items made of pottery, shell, stone, wood and textiles, all of which shed light on the life and culture of the different societies that lived in Colombia before the Spanish conquest.

The first object acquired by the museum, and a national symbol of Colombia, was the Poporo Quimbaya (shown in the photo) - a gourd-shaped container that held small amounts of lime (the mineral, not the fruit), traditionally chewed together with coca leaves; the long pin that appears on the left was used to carry the lime to the mouth. Dating from around 300 AD, this object was crafted by the Quimbaya culture, famous for their technically advanced gold work, using the lost-wax process. Another spectacular artefact housed in the museum, the Muisca Raft, depicts the ceremony that gave rise to the legend of El Dorado ("The Golden Man"). Both the Poporo and the Muisca raft have appeared on Colombian coins and banknotes.

The museum, administered by Banrepcultural (the cultural dissemination and preservation programme of Colombia's central bank), is visited by 500,000 people every year. Another gold museum, Calima Gold Museum, is located in the historic centre of Santiago de Cali, in southwest Colombia. The Museo del Oro del Peru in Lima also holds an impressive collection of pre-Columbian gold artefacts, though not as extensive as the one in Bogotá.