Are You Sure That's What It Is? Quiz

Answer: Silbury Hill

Silbury Hill is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site around Stonehenge that includes Avebury and West Kennet Long Barrow. At 129 feet high, it is the tallest man-made mound in Europe. Its purpose is unknown, despite multiple excavations and investigations. Access to the hill is restricted to protect it from damage.

Peter Gabriel's 1977 song "Solsbury Hill" was written about an Iron Age hill fort in Somerset.

Cat's Back, in Herefordshire, is also known as the Black Hill, and lent its name to Bruce Chatwin's 1982 novel, "On the Black Hill".

Twmbarlwm is a hill near Newport in south-east Wales with a strange lump dating from the Iron Age on top of it, whose purpose is unknown.

Answer: Corinth Canal

The Corinth Canal cuts through the Isthmus of Corinth, and connects the Saronic Gulf with the Gulf of Corinth. It is 4 miles long and so narrow, at 70ft, that it is not accessible to large commercial ocean-going ships, and has a one-way system. The canal was opened in 1893. Though the Peloponnese could technically now be termed an island, it doesn't tend to be. A popular tourist destination, it is the home of ancient Arcadia.

The Caledonian Canal is in Scotland.
The Saimaaa Canal is in Finland.
The Karakum Canal is in Turkmenistan.
The Kacchi Canal is in Pakistan.

Answer: Madrid

The Prado Museum, in central Madrid, is the major Spanish museum, housing one of the greatest collections of art in the world. The building was designed in 1785, by Juan de Villanueva, for Charles III, to hold the nation's Natural History collection, but his grandson Ferdinand VII repurposed it to be a museum of paintings and sculptures.

The collection includes masterpieces by Velázquez ("Las Meninas"), Bosch ("The Garden of Earthly Delights"), Goya (The two "Majas") and Durer ("Self Portrait").

Answer: Caernarfon

On 1 July 1969, the formal Investiture of the Prince of Wales was held in Caernarfon Castle in North Wales. Prince of Wales is a title that is given to the eldest son of the reigning monarch, and dates back to Edward I, whose son, who later became Edward II, was born in Wales. Edward I was a ruthlessly effective warrior who subdued the Welsh, and built castles all over the "Principality". Built in 1330, Caernarfon Castle was intended to be an awe-inspiring edifice that spoke of English dominance and might.

It remains an impressive building today, with polygonal, rather than round towers.

Answer: No

The Monument is a doric column that was built to commemorate London's Great Fire of 1666. It was designed by Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke and completed in 1677. Its height of 202 feet is significant in that the Monument is situated 202 feet from the location in Pudding Lane where the fire started.

The Monument is a popular tourist destination, with commanding views over London, though not everyone appreciates the climb - James Boswell visited it in 1763 and suffered a panic attack.

Answer: Pantheon

The Pantheon (from the Greek for "all the gods") was built as a temple by the emperor Hadrian and completed c125AD. It has been in use continually ever since. It has a conventional opening - a set of columns under a pediment - that open into an amazing circular area with a domed roof made of concrete. The most striking aspect of the building is the "oculus" (Latin: "eye"), a hole in the middle of the roof which lets in sunlight and rain. The height of the building to the oculus is 142 feet, the same as the diameter of the circular part of building. In the 7th century, the building was converted to a Christian church.

The Parthenon is the temple on top of the Acropolis in Athens.
Circus Maximus and Teatro Marcello are two of the many ancient Roman sights of Rome.
Altare della Patria or Il Vittoriano - a building that some love and some hate - was completed much more recently - in 1885.

Answer: Uffington White Horse

The Uffington White Horse is a beautiful minimalist chalk representation of a horse on a hillside near the village of Uffington. It was created by digging trenches which were then filled with chalk. It is by far the oldest chalk horse in England - estimated as being created sometime between 1380 BC and 550 BC - and looks like nothing else.

The Westbury White Horse, from the 18th century AD, is one of several Wiltshire examples of white horses.
The Folkestone White Horse, in Kent, was created in 2003 as a Millennium attraction.
The Long Man of Wilmington and the Cerne Abbas Giant are ancient chalk representations of men.

Answer: Seven Mile Bridge

The Seven Mile Bridge is actually 6.8 miles long. It connects the city of Marathon to Little Duck Key. Apart from being used by motor vehicles, it carries an aqueduct and fibre cables that serve the western Keys. The bridge was completed in 1982, and replaced an existing, slightly longer bridge that nowadays is only open to pedestrians and bicycles.

There are two Severn Crossings connecting South Wales with England.
The wrong answers are all longer than 7 miles. The Atchafalaya Swamp Expressway and Lake Pontchartrain Causeway are in Louisiana, and the Vasco de Gama Bridge spans the Tagus, near Lisbon.

Answer: Yes

The Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière, designed by Pierre Bossan, was built in the late 19th century in Lyon and has a commanding position overlooking the city. It consists of two churches, one on top of the other, and is built from a pale white stone with elaborate carvings.

It occupies the site of an ancient Roman Forum. The locals call it "the upside down elephant" because of its four towers that look like the legs of an elephant that is lying on its back.

Answer: Auguste Rodin

One of Auguste Rodin's best known sculptures, "The Burghers of Calais" is a commemoration of a supposed incident from the Hundred Years' War when Calais was under siege by Edward III of England. The story is that six of the most prominent citizens of Calais put themselves forward for execution to save their fellow residents. Rodin created his statue in 1889.

Its realist, rather than heroic, style was controversial. It was designed to be installed at ground level so that viewers could look the heroic burghers in the eye. By law there can only be 12 casts of the statue.

After the first was installed in Calais in 1895, subsequent casts have been installed in places including London, Washington. Copenhagen and Tokyo.