What! Are you looking at? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Versailles

Louis XIV (1638 -1715) was a French king from the House of Bourbon who reigned for 72 years. He created a system of absolute monarchy and led France in winning three major wars and becoming a major leading European power. He chose the sun as his personal emblem as it was also the ultimate power and was associated with Apollo who was the God of peace and arts.

Louis was a huge patron of the arts and made many improvements to Paris within his lifetime but his shining glory was the palace of Versailles that he created from his father's hunting lodge. The main four buildings that comprise the palace were built between the years of 1664 and 1710. The palace is a display of sheer grandeur and opulence both in its size and decoration. Louis officially moved the French court from Paris to Versailles in 1682 and it remained there until the French Revolution of 1789.

Buckingham Palace is the London home of the British Royal family, Schönbrunn was the summer residence of the House of Habsburg in Vienna, and Topkapi Palace, located in Istanbul, was the residence of the Ottoman Sultans.

Answer: The Ponte Vecchio, Florence

The Ponte Vecchio, which literally means 'old bridge', crosses the Arno River in Florence. It is the only surviving Florence bridge from pre WWII. The earliest documented origins of a bridge at this point are from 996 - this one and its replacement, constructed in 1117, were both destroyed by flood.

The current bridge was built in 1345. It is a closed, spandrel, segmental, arch bridge made of stone and still has shops occupying both sides. It is believed the name for bankruptcy originated at these bridges. Merchants sold their wares on tables ('banco') and when they could not pay their debts the soldiers broke ('rotto') these tables. This was known as 'bancorotto'.

Sydney Harbour Bridge is the newest of the four, a steel through, arch bridge built between 1923 and 1932.

Tower Bridge in London, crossing the river Thames, is a combined bascule and suspension bridge and was constructed from 1886-1894.

The Rialto is a stone arch bridge that crosses the Venice Grand Canal. It began construction in 1588 and was finished in 1591.

Answer: Colosseum

The Colosseum in Rome, Italy was built between 72 - 80AD and was the largest ever amphitheatre constructed within the Roman Empire. It was built for the purpose of pure entertainment - 50,000 spectators could watch dramas, animal hunts and famous re-enactments of battles on land and sea and, of course, the infamous executions and gladiator contests.

Some of the persecution of Christians occurred here but it is believed the majority would have been within other arenas. The Roman Catholic Church did erect a 'Stations of the Cross' in the Colosseum during the eighteenth century when it was listed as a place that was impregnated with the blood of martyrs.

Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, is probably one of the most famous sites in the world, consisting of the remains of a ring of standing stones surrounded by burial mounds. There is uncertainty of the purpose of the original pre-historic structure that stood at the site and many theories abound on the current (1600 BC) monument. The two major theories are that it was a place of healing or that it was used for ancestor worship.

Its design is indicative of a celestial observatory that suggests some form of need for knowledge of the solstices and eclipses. The Neopagan, New Age and Neo-druids have all begun to recognise it as a place of great religious significance during the twentieth century.

The Sphinx is found on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest known monumental sculpture and the largest monolith statue in the world. It is believed to have been built during the reign of Pharaoh Khafra which was approx 2558 - 2532 BC. It faces due east and is referred to as 'Hamachis' who is the God of the Rising Sun. A temple was discovered at the foot of the sphinx depicting many dedications to the rising and the setting of the sun.

Olympia, which can be found in Elis, Greece, is an ancient sanctuary which was the site of the Olympic Games from the eighth century BC. The first games were held to honour Zeus and the entire compound is full of the ruins of temples in his name or the names of other Gods. It was considered sacred ground in Ancient Greece.

Answer: Atomium

The Atomium is located in Brussels, Belgium and was built for the 1958 Brussels World Fair. It is a large stainless steel model that forms the shape of an iron crystal - eight spheres set like the edges of a cube and one sphere in the centre. All of the exterior spheres are connected via twelve tubes and another eight tubes connect the corners to the central sphere. Five of the spheres contain exhibition halls and galleries and the tubes have a lift and escalators to allow movement from one to the other.

Hadrian's Wall was a fortification built across the top of England by the Romans beginning in 122 AD. Contrary to popular belief it does not sit on the border with Scotland; it is anywhere between 1 km (in the west) and 110 km (in the east) south of the border.

The Angel of the North is a contemporary structure made of steel that stands at Gateshead, Tyne and Wear in Northeast England. She stands a massive 20 metres high with a wingspan of 54 metres. Work began in 1994 and completed in 1998.

Nelson's Column is in the centre of Trafalgar Square in London and was built between 1840 and 1843. It consists of a tall Corinthian column with a statue of Admiral Horatio Nelson on top. The pedestal has four large bronze reliefs each depicting an important battle including his death at Trafalgar. In 1867 four large bronze lions were added to the base.

Answer: The Acropolis

A mausoleum is a building made as a monument that contains the tomb of one or more people. If there is no tomb it is known as a cenotaph.

The Acropolis is situated overlooking the city of Athens in Greece. It was built during the fifth century BC and contains many buildings including temples and sanctuaries dedicated to different gods. The main building is the Parthenon, a temple dedicated to Athena the Goddess of Athens.

'Acropolis' comes from 'akron' (edge) and 'polis' (city) so there are actually many other acropoleis throughout Greece but the importance of the Acropolis of Athens means it is referred to as THE Acropolis without further reference.

The Taj Mahal in Agra, India contains the tomb of Mumtaz Mahal the third wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. It was built between 1632 and 1653 and contains a mixture of Indian, Islamic, Persian and Turkish architecture.

The Pantheon in Paris, France was originally built as a church but became a mausoleum for distinguished Frenchmen. Pantheon means 'every God' and it contains many famous French artists, writers, singers and scientists. Military heroes are buried at Les Invalides, another famous Parisian mausoleum.

As of 2012 there have been 138 pyramids discovered in Egypt, the most famous of these being the three pyramids of Giza. The pyramids are huge structures built to house the tombs of the Pharaohs and their consorts.

Answer: Mount Everest

Tenzing Norgay (born Namgyal Wangdi) was the Sherpa that reached the summit of Mt Everest with Edmund Hillary in 1953 making him one of the first two people to reach the top.

Tenzing was born in 1914 in Nepal and after a few different jobs he settled at a Sherpa's community in Darjeeling when he was nineteen. In 1935 he was hired for his first expedition on Everest and he went on a further five before his infamous seventh expedition with Hillary. He died in 1986 in Darjeeling, India.

Mt Everest is the earth's highest mountain peak above sea level. It is located in the Himalayas with the border between Nepal and China on the summit. The mountain had many different names in the surrounding countries and dialects so it was given its official English name in 1865 by the British Surveyor General of India, Andrew Waugh, who named it after his predecessor Sir George Everest.

The Grand Canyon is a 446 km long canyon formed by the Colorado River in Arizona, USA. At its greatest width it is 29 kms and it is 1,800 metres deep. Recent research suggests that the river established its coarse seventeen million years ago and has continued to erode the canyon since that time. It is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

Another one of these natural wonders, The Great Barrier Reef, is located off the coast of Queensland, Australia in the Coral Sea. The reef is the world's largest coral reef and the biggest structure made by living organisms. It contains 900 islands and 2900 reefs over 2600 kms.

Uluru/Ayers Rock is a large sandstone rock formation in the Northern Territory, Australia. The local Pitjantjatjara people called the rock Uluru. In 1873 it was named Ayers Rock after the Chief Secretary of South Australia, by the surveyor that first sighted it. Following a dual naming policy that was introduced in 1993 it became known officially as both names. Although often called a monolith it is officially an inselberg.

Answer: Inuksuk

An inuksuk (spelt inukshuk in English) is a landmark made of stones built by people of the arctic region. The region above the Arctic Circle has very few natural landmarks so the native people had to build them to use as a form of marker. They were used for navigation, camps, hunting grounds and anything that the people needed to be able to re-find.

The most common type is a large single stone placed upright but there are also others which form shapes and some that appear to be a pile of rocks. The word itself means "something which acts for or performs the function of a person".

Chichen Itza was a large city built by the Mayan civilization from 600 - 1200 AD. It is located in Yucat¨¢n, Mexico and contains architectural styles from many periods. The name means "at the mouth of the well of the Itza"- the Itza were the people who controlled the peninsula at the time. The site was named as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.

Another site that also made it onto that list was Mach Picchu, an Inca city located on a mountain ridge in Cusco, Peru. It is believed to have been built around 1450 for the Incan Emperor Pachacuti and was used by all the following rulers for the next century but was then abandoned.

Ephesus was founded in the tenth century BC in what is now Izmir, Turkey. It was originally a major Greek City and later a massive Roman City. One of its many claims to fame was the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which was built around 550BC. It was also one of the Seven Churches of Asia which St John wrote about in the Book of Revelation. St John himself is buried at the town of Selçuk three kms away.

Answer: Golden Temple of Amritsar

The Golden Temple of Amritsar is located in Punjab, India. Its official name is the Harmandir Sahib which means "the abode of God". The Sikhs refer to their place of worship as a Gurdwara, meaning 'gateway to the guru'. Sikh Guru Arjan Dev, the fifth Sikh guru, built this Gurdwara in the sixteenth century and the holy scripture of Sikhism was installed into the Harmandir Sahib in 1604.

It was rebuilt in 1764 and the upper floors were covered with Gold which is where it derives its more common name. It was constructed to be a place of worship for people from all nations and religions to come and worship God.

Angkor Wat is located in Angor, Cambodia and is the largest Hindu temple complex in the world. It was built in the twelfth century as the state temple for King Suryavarman II and later became his mausoleum. The temple is dedicated to the god Vishnu and that may possibly be why the temple is orientated to the west instead of the east like most Hindu temples - scholars are still unsure of its significance. The temple changed from Hindu to Theravada Buddhism in the thirteenth century.

Al-Masjid al-Ḥar¨im (The Sacred Mosque) is located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia and is the largest mosque in the world. It is built around the Kaaba - a cuboid building which is the most sacred site in Islam and to which all Muslims face to pray. Men and women are able to worship together at Al-Masjid al-Ḥar¨im and it has the capacity to hold four million people during Hajj.

The Lotus Temple is found in New Delhi, India and is a Baha'i House of Worship which was only finished in 1986. It is built in the shape of a flower and has won many architectural awards. It, too, is open to any religion as a place of worship. According to Baha'i law only religious texts (of any religion) may be read in the temple - sermons and singing are prohibited.

Answer: Christ the Redeemer

Christ the Redeemer is a 30 metre high statue of Jesus located on top of Corcovado Mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was built between the years of 1922 and 1931 and is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone.

The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbour, USA is made of copper and wrought iron. She was a gift from France in 1886 to commemorate American Independence. The statue represents Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom.

Manneken Pis is a small bronze fountain of a young boy urinating found in Brussels, Belgium. The statue was created around 1618 and has become a famous city landmark. There are multiple legends about the story behind the statue but no-one knows for sure the origins of its design.

The Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue is a relatively new landmark only being erected in 2008 at Tsonjin Boldog, Mongolia. It is a 40 metre tall, stainless steel statue of Genghis Khan on horseback standing on top of a visitor centre. Tourists may climb up inside of the statue to the head where there is a lookout.

Answer: Bethesda Fountain

Bethesda Fountain can be found in New York City's Central Park at Bethesda Terrace. The fountain sculpture, a large winged Angel, was unveiled in 1873 and has four cherubs at her feet that represent Health, Peace, Purity and Temperance. The name is derived from St John's Gospel where there is an Angel blessing the Pool of Bethesda to give it healing powers.

The Trevi fountain is a large famous Baroque fountain in Rome. The current fountains work began in 1732 and took thirty years to complete. The general theme is called 'Taming of the Waters'. It depicts Oceanus' shell chariot with Tritons taming the hippocamps that pull it. An average of 3000 Euros are thrown into the fountain everyday by tourists who follow the legend that those who toss a coin in the fountain will one day return to Rome.

The People's Friendship Fountain was built in 1954 and can be found in a large plaza in Moscow. It has sixteen gold plated female figures, all dressed in their national costume, that represent each of the republics of the USSR.

The Merlion, a mythical creature with the head of a lion and the body of a fish, is the national mascot of Singapore and the Merlion Fountain can be found in its Merlion Park.The fountain is a single statue of a concrete Merlion, with porcelain plates for its scales, with a jet of water coming from his mouth.