Churches and Cathedrals of Europe Quiz

Answer: Cologne

Possibly the most well-known church in Germany, Cologne Cathedral was begun in the year 1248. Over the next three hundred years, the main nave was built and one tower was mostly completed, but the other tower was still lacking. After the church had been confiscated by the French in the revolutionary area and used as storage, construction finally resumed in 1840, taking another forty years until the work was finally completed.

Answer: Roskilde

Originally planned and begun in Romanesque form in the late 12th century, Roskilde cathedral was changed to a Gothic style after it was about half finished. The church was completed in the 13th century, but chapels and small elements have been added through the centuries, making Roskilde one of the few sites where almost all architectural styles of European history can be seen and studied in a single building.

Answer: It was not permanently settled

Gammelstad was what is called a church village - a settlement constructed solely for the purpose of providing shelter and food to church attendees who would otherwise not be able to make the trip to and from church on Sunday alone. Consisting of 424 wooden houses, Gammelstad is the best preserved such village surviving to the present day.

Answer: Churches of Peace

The Churches of Peace were erected following the Thirty Years' War and were among the first Protestant churches permitted in the Habsburg Empire which was Catholic. Under the treaties and laws that ended the war, the ruler of a territory also determined its religious allegiance and thus Protestant worship was not permitted.

The King of Sweden, a Lutheran, however, used his influence on the German Emperor and three churches were allowed to be built in Poland. Two remain to the present day, the third, in Glogów, was destroyed in the 18th century.

Answer: Basilica of Ivan Veliki

While all four names exist in the Kremlin, Ivan Veliki is not a Basilica but rather a freestanding bell tower. There are many more churches built in the Kremlin and immediately surrounding it, such as the Church of the Twelve Apostles and the Cathedral of Kazan, the latter of which was destroyed under Soviet rule in the 1930s, along with several other religious buildings.

Answer: Austria

While featuring many shining examples of architecture, Austria does not actually feature a church among its World Heritage sites. In Romania, there is not only the Monastery of Horezu dedicates as such a site, but also the churches of Moldavia and those of Maramures, each as an ensemble. Slovakia also features an encompassing World Heritage site in the wooden churches of the Carpathian Mountains and Hungary has the Milleniary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma among its World Heritage sites.

Answer: To provide a local alternative for hard to reach pilgrimage sites

In the 15th century, pilgrimages to the Holy Land became increasingly dangerous and hard to undertake and Catholics in Italy were looking for an alternative. This alternative was found in the hills of Piedmont whose flora and overall landscape were extremely similar to the area around Jerusalem. Thus, chapels and pilgrimage sites mirroring those in the Holy Land were built there, allowing those who did not have the resources to undertake the dangerous trip to pray and meditate in surroundings close to the original.

Answer: Order of St. Augustine

Originally built as a property of the Hieronymites during the 16th century as part of the counter-reformation movement, the Escurial has been constructed based on plans similar to those of the temple of Solomon. In addition, the layout, when viewed from above, is that of a grill, linking it to the martyr San Lorenzo to which it is dedicated.

Answer: Pope Clement V

Born under the name of Raymond Bertrand de Got, Clement V became pope in 1305. Unlike all popes before him, he refused to assume the papacy as Bishop of Rome, instead electing to remain in Avignon, converting the existing cathedral into a palace for himself while having a new papal cathedral built.

The papacy was to reside in Avignon for over a century, until the year 1417. Avignon Bridge, also included in this World Heritage site, predates the remaining complex by approximately two hundred years.

Answer: Wartburg Castle

Wartburg Castle is the site of the exile of church reformer Martin Luther. It was during his ten-month captivity there that he translated the New Testament into the German language, for the first time providing most of his contemporaries to read and understand it for themselves instead of having to rely on translation from the Latin language given to them by their priests. Allowing the common believer to study and understand scripture for themselves was one of the key components of Luther's reforms designed to bring Christian worship back to a closer image of that celebrated by the apostles and first believers.