Places of Ruin Trivia Quiz

Answer: Syria

The Krak des Chevaliers is a castle originally built by the Kurds in 1031 AD, situated in Syria on the border with Lebanon. During the First Crusade, the Crusaders found the ruin of this Kurdish fortification and decided this was an excellent outpost to fortify. The Knights Hospitaller acquired the site in 1142 and replaced the Kurdish fortification by a new, impressive castle. The second castle was completed in 1170.
Several earthquakes damaged the castle, and diverse wars left their traces too. After 2014 the site became almost inaccessible because of the civil war in Syria.

Answer: Libya

Leptis Magna was originally founded by the Carthaginians (descendants from the Phoenicians) around 650 BC. The Romans made it into one of their main settlements in Northern Africa, although it had an independent status within the Roman Republic (and later the Roman Empire).

In 439 AD, the Vandal tribes demolished the city walls - a decision they most probably implored when about 90 years later Berber tribes looted the city. The site of Leptis Magna was endangered in 2011 when, during the revolt against Colonel Gadaffi, the Libyan government declared that rebels used Leptis Magna as an arsenal.

Answer: Mali

Archeological research has pointed out a settlement arose in the regio Djenne - Djoboro (nowadays situated in the South of Mali) about 200 BC. The city thrived until 850 AD, but was abandoned around 1400 AD. The decline was possibly due to of a shift in the important trade routes to Timbuktu, a city about 500 km north of Djenné - although there is evidence that the trade routes from Timbuktu continued to Djenné. The UNESCO decided in 1998 to make Djenné a World Heritage Site, but since then the population seems to think this conservation status prohibits their own efforts to preserve the old town as it once was.

Answer: Chile

One of the major saltpeter deposits in the world, situated in the arid province of Iquique in Chile, has been exploited since the mid-nineteenth Century. Besides the mining facilities arose some settlements for the industrial workers in that desolate place. Humberstone is roughly the living quarters of the workers, while Santa Laura is more or less the production site (mines and factories).

The mining has been stopped, but some of the installations are still in working order. Alas, an earthquake has done quite a lot of damage.

Answer: Canada

L'Anse aux Meadows is one of the first European settlements on the American continents. Vikings erected a town on this northern tip of Newfoundland (Canada) around 1000 AD. The settlement was deserted probably after only some fifty-odd years, for reasons not ascertained (yet).
About 1960 the Norwegians Helge and Anne Stine Ingstad discovered the remnants of this site, which had been buried under grassy knolls for some centuries.

Answer: India

Qutb Minar (also orthographied Qutub Minar) is an Islamic minaret in Delhi, India. It dates back to about 1200 AD, as its construction was ordered by sultan Qutb-ud-din Aibak. According to an inscription on one of the walls, the mosque and minaret were erected using materials from demolished Hindu and Jain temples.
The complex was damaged a few times by lightning or by earthquakes. The most recent incident (in 1981) was an electricity failure during the visit of hundreds of kids, who panicked and sought to evade the darkness. Alas, more than 40 of them were trampled by the others.

Answer: Greece

Delphi was a sacred place for the cult of Apollo during the golden ages of the Greek civilisation. Delphi was probably already inhabited around 1600 BC, but its heydays were the classical Greek period (500 BC - 350 BC).
Many buildings in Delphi have sustained some damage because the site was almost deserted since about 700 AD.
A new city also named Delphi is now packed with hotels for the many tourists who like to see what's left of the old town.

Answer: Italy

Herculaneum and Stabiae were small towns in the direct vicinity of Pompeii. Now that I have named Pompeii, you probably realise that these towns were covered by volcanic ash in 79 AD after one of the most dramatic outbursts of the Vesuvius volcano.
The Roman author Pliny the Elder was an eyewitness to this catastrophe. Alas, he took the risk of landing at Stabiae and lost his life over there - maybe because of the volcanic fumes, but his obesity and asthma may have contributed to his death also.

Answer: Cambodia

Angkor was the capital city of the Khmer empire during the period 1010-1220 AD. The estimated population was over 1,000,000 inhabitants, making Angkor at that time the largest city in the world. (Previously only Rome, Baghdad and the Chinese city Chang'an had reached this threshold).
The main tourist attraction is the temple of Angkor Wat, erected between 1113 and 1150 AD. Alas, later generations neglected the maintenance of the site, and large parts of it were conquered by jungle plants.

Answer: Japan

Most quizzers will have already seen a photo of this site: a red wooden torii (gate) in a flooded area. The original shinto shrine was probably built around 600 AD, and the monks who took care of the shrine, desired to leave the area unspoiled. That's why no birth or death was allowed on the premises. Pregnant women had to leave the area before their time of delivery had come, and elderly or sick people were likewise urged to leave. At ebb tide, the shrine is quite comfortably accessible on foot.

But as the tide rises, the plain before the temple fills up with water, leaving only part of the torii visible.