Around the World in 10 Castles (2) Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Ch�teau Frontenac claims to be the most photographed hotel in the world. Designated as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1980, it is build on the site of Ch�teau Haldimand, which was the residence of British colonial governors of Lower Canada and Quebec. Looking down from an elevation of 177 feet, Ch�teau Frontenac dominates the skyline of which city?

Answer: Quebec City

The original hotel on this site was built in the late 19th century for the Canadian Pacific Railway company. Opened in 1893, it was named after the 17th-century governor of the New France colony Louis de Buade, Count of Frontenac. Although not the tallest building in Quebec City, because it is perched on a high hill the hotel dominates the skyline, overlooking the Saint Lawrence River.

2. Built in the early 20th-century in the Scottish baronial style, Hatley Castle was purchased in 1939 by the Commonwealth in case the royal family chose to evacuate London. Following the war, it became the Royal Roads Military College. since 1995, this a Classified Federal Heritage Building has been the home of a university. In which Canadian province is it located?

Answer: British Columbia

In addition to the castle, the extensive ground of the Hatley Park National Historic Site contain both formal gardens and forests of Douglas fir and western red cedar. Used as a navy training facility from 1948 until 1995, the Military College to which it was home was converted into the Royal Roads University. The park and castle are located in the city of Colwood, on Vancouver Island to the southwest of the British Columbia capital, Victoria.

3. The impressive castle pictured here was built between 1847 and 1852 to house the legislature when the state capital was relocated. Replaced when a new capitol building opened in 1932, it is now known as "The Castle on the River" or the "Museum of Political History". A National Historic Landmark since 1974, in which U.S. state capital can this castle be seen?

Answer: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

This imposing building is also known as the "Louisiana Castle", the "Castle of Baton Rouge" and the "Old Louisiana State Capitol". It was decided to move the Louisiana state seat from New Orleans to Baton Rouge in 1846. This Gothic Revival castle, situated at 100 North Boulevard on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River, was built to house the legislature.

During the American Civil War, occupying Union forces used the castle as a prison. Gutted by fire, the interior had to be completely rebuilt before it could once again be used for its original purpose and the state legislature returned in 1882.

4. It was originally intended to use white marble for this National Historic Landmark in Washington D.C., but it was eventually built using red Seneca sandstone. Built between 1847-55, what is now housed in this the faux Norman style structure that is nicknamed "The Castle"?

Answer: Smithsonian Institute

Located on the mall behind the National Museum of African Art and the Sackler Gallery, this is the Smithsonian Institution Building. It is the work of James Renwick Jr., who also designed Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. The building is built of sandstone from the Seneca Quarry in Montgomery County, Maryland.

The Castle houses the administrative offices of the Smithsonian Institute and the main visitors' centre. James Smithson (1765-1829), the founder of the institution, is also buried here.

5. The photograph shows the swimming pool at our next castle, and where else could this be but California. This National Historical Landmark was built between 1919 and 1947 in the central coast region between Point Mugu and Monterey Bay. Now a tourist attraction and part of the California State Park System, for whom was it originally built?

Answer: William Randolph Hearst

Built for newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, who died in 1951, Hearst Castle became part of the California State Park System in 1958. Visitors were originally charge $1 for admission to the castle and grounds. Now located within the Hearst San Simeon State Park, which also includes the Santa Rosa Creek Natural Preserve, the castle contains the sizeable family collection of art and antiques.

Despite its location far from any major city, millions of tourists visit annually.

6. Our next destination is the most famous castle in Mexico. Located 7,600 feet above sea level, perched on a hill with a panoramic view of the city below, this is the only North American castle that was used as an official royal residence. The name of this castle means "at the grasshopper's hill" in the Nahuatl (Aztec) language. Which castle is this?

Answer: Chapultepec Castle

This magnificent Neo-romanticism,/Neo-Gothic structure stands atop Chapultepec Hill, in the middle of 'Bosque de Chapultepec' (Chapultepec Forest), one of the Western Hemisphere's largest city parks (1,695 acres). Construction of 'Castillo de Chapultepec' began in 1765 although it was not completed until 1863.

During the Second Mexican Empire (1864-1867), this was the official residence of the Mexican Emperor Maximilian I, and his consort Empress Carlota. Unfortunately for them, their time here was limited: the city fell on 15 May 1867, Maximilian was captured trying to slip through Republican lines, and he was executed less than six weeks later. Fortunately for Carlota, the daughter of Leopold I of Belgium and a first cousin to Queen Victoria, she had left for Europe to try to elicit help for her besieged husband. The city fell in her absence and she never returned to Mexico, so she lived to the ripe age of 86, dying in 1927.

7. Built overlooking the Ozama River between 1502 and 1505, 'Fortaleza Ozama' ("Ozama Fortress") is the oldest European military construction in the Americas. In which Caribbean nation can you now visit this medieval-style castle?

Answer: Dominican Republic

Built by the Spanish in the early 16th century, Fortaleza Ozama guards the entrance to the port at the Dominican Republic's capital, Santo Domingo. "The Fortress" is part of the historic colonial city of Santo Domingo, which was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990.

The Fortress itself was used as a prison into the 1960s. Situated in Las Damas Street, it is now open to the public.

8. Built in 1482, Elmina Castle is the oldest European building still surviving south of the Sahara Desert. Originally built as a trading post, it became a regular stop on Atlantic slave routes. It is one of eleven forts and castles designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 in which African country?

Answer: Ghana

Originally called 'S�o Jorge da Mina' ("Saint George of the Mine") Castle when it was built by the Portuguese in 1482, Elmina Castle stands on the Atlantic coast of Ghana near the town of Elmina. Now home to more than 30,000 (2013 estimate), Elmina, in what was then the Portuguese Gold Coast, was the first European settlement in West Africa.

The town and the fort were seized by the Dutch in 1637 and the region was renamed the Dutch Gold Coast five years later. During most of the next two centuries, the castle and town were an important centre of the slave trade.

In 1872, the region became a British possession, known simply as The Gold Coast. In 1957, it became the first sub-Saharan African nation to gain independence, as the Republic of Ghana.

9. Built between 1666 and 1679, our next destination is the oldest surviving colonial building in South Africa. Declared a national historical monument in 1936 and restored in 1980, this is the best-preserved of the many forts that once belonged to the Dutch East India Company. In which South African city can you visit this historic landmark?

Answer: Cape Town

'Kasteel de Goede Hoop' ("Castle of Good Hope") once stood on the Table Bay coast just outside of cape Town, but recent land reclamation has now left it some distance from the sea.

The castle was used as a prison during the Second Boer War (1899-1902), with Fritz Joubert Duquesne (known as "the man who killed Kitchener") its most infamous guest.

In 2000, the castle was designated as South Africa's first "Provincial Heritage Site".

10. Built between 1175 and 1183 by the Ayyubid ruler after whom it is named, the Saladin Citadel was designed to protect the city from The Crusaders. The site now contains the Al-Gawhara Palace (or Bijou Palace) museum and the National Military Museum. In which North African capital can you visit Saladin Citadel?

Answer: Cairo

Built on Mokattam Hill near the centre of Cairo, Saladin Citadel of Cairo (also called Cairo Castle) provides visitors with spectacular views of the city. The complex now also contains the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, completed in 1848, a notable example of classic Ottoman architecture. There are also two other, earlier, mosques located within the citadel,

Source: Author EnglishJedi

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor stedman before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

We continue our photographic journey of notable castles, many of them from medieval times and beyond. Last time we visited Europe and Asia, so we now move on to the rest of the world.

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