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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 50 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
Special Topics
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Statues
| Where was a new statue of Queen Elizabeth II located in 1977, her silver jubilee? | London Statues
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There was no such statue. The convention is never to sculpt statues of living monarchs.
| What is notable about the statue of Oliver Cromwell, standing outside the Houses of Parliament? | London Statues
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His spurs are upside down. Cromwell is depicted standing (without a horse, but with the spurs) holding a bible and a sword.
| Where can you find the sufragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst? | London Statues
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Victoria Tower Gardens, near Parliament. Victoria Tower Gardens are located to the west of the Houses of Parliament and are named after the Victoria Tower. This tower is clearly visible as part of the Parliament buildings (it is not the one containing Big Ben).
| What is the great engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel doing at Paddington Station? | London Statues
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Sitting on a chair. Isambard Kingdom Brunel was chief engineer with the Great Western Railway.
| What is Sir Ernest Shackleton wearing in his statue located on the Royal Geographic Society building? | London Statues
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Coat, shoes and woolly hat. And very warm he looks too!
| Of what is the lion on the south side of Westminster Bridge made? | London Statues
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Terracotta. The specific name for the material is Coade Stone. It is a special form of terracotta which is exceptionally hard wearing. Unfortunately, the secret of its manufacture was lost when the factory closed down.
| Where would you go to meet the statue of Charlie Chaplin? | London Statues
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Leicester Square. The statue was unveiled in 1981.
Fetter Lane. The statue is of John Wilkes whose campaign for press freedom got him imprisoned in the Tower of London (released in 1763). He was also a member of the Hellfire Club.
| To whom is the large memorial at the front of Buckingham Palace dedicated? | London Statues
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Queen Victoria. The Memorial (by Sir Thomas Brock again) was designed together with the Mall as an entire grand spectacle.
| What is Sir Joshua Reynolds doing in the statue outside Burlington House? | London Statues
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Painting. Burlington House is the home of the Royal Academy of Arts.
| Where can you find Beethoven, Lawes, Purcell, Tallis, Haydn, Gibbons, Mozart, Mendelssohn and Weber socialising and reading together? | London Statues
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On the Albert Memorial. The frieze around the base of the Memorial contains many other figures in addition to the group of composers.
Kensington Gardens. The statue was commissioned by Barrie himself and Peter Pan was modelled on Nina Boucicault who played the first Peter Pan in the London stage production of the story.
| What is notable about the statue of Queen Victoria located at the National Gallery annex at Carlton House Terrace? | London Statues
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She has a chipped nose. The statue is located under the porchway and was by Sir Thomas Brock.
| How much does the statue of the Roman horse tamer in Hyde Park weigh (it is also known as the Achilles Statue)? | London Statues
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33 tons. The enormous cost of the statue was funded by 'the women of England' in tribute to the Duke of Wellington. Those who know the statue will understand why the genteel ladies present at the unveiling of this rather exposed male figure, were scandalised when they first saw it!
| Which Queen is standing outside the front of St Paul's Cathedral? | London Statues
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Queen Anne. The statue now standing is actually a replica of an earlier one which was originally erected in 1712.
| After the statue was fully erected and in place, a pukao was placed on top of the statue. What was a pukao? | Statues of Rapa Nui
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Topknot. All the statues were placed on ceremonial rings circling the outside of the island. All of the statues were also placed looking in onto the island instead of looking out into the ocean. The topnot, which was shaped like a drum and added to the statue's head, was made of red scoria stone from another quarry in Puna Pau.
| Rano Raraku was the name of the quarry where most of the statues were made from. Rano Raraku is situated inside of a what? | Statues of Rapa Nui
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Volcano. Almost all of the statues of Rapa Nui were carved from the porous volcanic tuff left in the crater of an extinct volcano which scientists believe built the island. The statues were carved out of the volcanic tuff with basalt picks and then a team of 10-12 women would start adding the details. It would have taken approximately one year for one statue to be finished.
| In terms of weight, what is the name of the largest completed statue on Rapa Nui? | Statues of Rapa Nui
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Paro. Paro, weighing a little bit more than 82 tons, is not the largest project attempted by the Rapa Nuians. In their ancient quarry lies another uncompleted statue named "El Gigante" which would have weighed 270 tons and been 66 feet tall if it had been finished.
Moai. The moai of Rapa Nui are almost instantly recognized by anyone who has ever seen a picture of them. None of the statues depict below the waist and the most attention in the detail of the carvings were given to the head. Scientists believe that since no two statues are exactly alike that they may of been portraits of important people in the Rapa Nuian culture and life.
| Rapa Nui is the native name of the island on which these statues stand. However, the island has a more common name. By what name is this remote island more commonly known? | Statues of Rapa Nui
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Easter Island. Easter Island is aptly named this because it was discovered on Easter Sunday, 1722 by the Dutch explorer Jakob Roggeveen. (Captain Cook visited the island in 1774 hoping to find plenty of food and water, but there was little of either). It is the most remote place on earth - it is 1,400 miles away from the nearest inhabitable place and over 2,300 miles away from the closest continent - South America.
| In which European city could you see the twice-life-size statue of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels? | Famous Statues of Europe
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Berlin. The slightly-comical statue is in an area called the Marx-Engels-Forum and is a favourite spot for a photo.
Brussels. The statue was erected in gratitude by a wealthy aristocrat when his son was found after being missing for three days. What was the boy doing when he was found? Well, yes! Now the most famous tourist site in Brussels is this dubious statue which is sometimes dressed in special costumes.
Paris. The famous armless statue is held in the Louvre in Paris.
| This faithful dog doesn't have a statue as such, but a very famous tombstone. Where would you find the grave of Gelert? | Famous Statues of Europe
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Wales. Gelert's owner killed him in rage when he thought that Gelert had killed his infant son. When he realised that Gelert had become drenched in blood while saving the child from a wolf, he was filled with remorse and constructed the grave.
Scotland. He is said to have lived on his master's grave for 14 years until he himself died.
| Where in London would you find the very famous statue variously known as Eros or the Angel of Christian Charity? | Famous Statues of Europe
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Piccadilly Circus. The statue was erected in 1892 as a monument to the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, a noted Victorian philanthropist.
The statue was actually intended by its designer, Alfred Gilbert, to be of Eros's brother Anteros, who was the God of Selfless Love - i.e. the opposite attribute to Eros (the God of Erotic Love), and much more appropriate to a memorial to a philanthropist.
Copenhagen. She was a present to the city from brewer Carl Jacobsen, and was sculpted by little-known sculptor Edvard Erichsen.
| "Die Lorelei" is said to lure mariners to the shore where they are shipwrecked and perish. Where would you see the statue of die Lorelei? | Famous Statues of Europe
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on a bend of the Rhine River. The "Lorelei" is a famous rock that towers above the river at this point. The statue is a recent addition. In the (modern) legend, she sang as she lured unwary sailors towards the rocks in a fast-flowing treacherous part of the Rhine. There are also various other, much older legends about the rock.
Florence. The statue is held in the Galleria dell Academia in Florence (Firenze), but you can see a beautiful replica for free in the Piazza Signoria.
| What city features a 25-foot-tall ear of corn standing atop a roadside gazebo? | Minnesota Statues
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Olivia. There is also a Libby Foods corn water tower in Rochester. However, it is an actual water tower that is shaped and painted like an ear of corn. The one in Olivia is a bonefide statue.
| What city has an 18-foot-tall black crow perched on a 25-foot-tall pedestal? | Minnesota Statues
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Belgrade. Unlike most Minnesota statues, the crow does not sit near a major highway or interstate. It is in an relatively isolated rural area, giving some visitors an eerie feeling when they see a giant black bird. Perhaps the residents of Belgrade should consider erecting a large scarecrow.
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