Answer: Egyptian obelisks
Rome boasts the world's largest collection of ancient Egyptian obelisks, all made from a single stone: there are eight of them, which can be admired in various strategic points of the city's historic centre, such as St Peter's Square and the scenic Piazza del Popolo. The oldest and tallest of them (and the largest monolithic obelisk in the world) is the Obelisco Lateranense (37,3 m/122 ft, not including the cross on top of it), erected in 1588 outside the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano. It was taken from the Temple of Amun in Karnak in the early 4th century AD: its construction began in the reign of Thutmose III (1479-1425 BC), centuries before Rome's foundation.
In addition, there are five Roman copies of Egyptian obelisks manufactured during the Imperial era, one of which can be seen at the top of the Spanish Steps. Until 2005 the city also owned the Ethiopian obelisk of Axum, which was disassembled and returned to its country of origin. There are also five modern obelisks, built between the 19th and the mid-20th century.
From Quiz: Rome Wasn't Built in a Day
Answer: Villa Malta
This is the headquarters of the Knights of Malta on the Aventine Hill. Through the keyhole of its portal you can see St. Peter's Basilica. Since the Italian government recognizes the sovereignty of the ancient military order of the Knights, technically there are three nations within Rome: Italy, the Vatican and the Priorate of the Knights of Malta.
So, when you look through the keyhole on the grounds of Villa Malta, you can see all three sovereign countries at once.
Yes, a bit of a stretch, but a good story!
From Quiz: Rome off the Beaten Path
Answer: "All Gods" or "Every God"
The Pantheon was built in 126AD as a temple to ALL gods. Nearly 2000 years after it was built, the Pantheon's dome is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world, having a height and radius of 43.3m (123 feet)!
From Quiz: All Roads Lead To...
Answer: Bramante
St. Peter's Basilica was built in 1546. Although both Michelangelo and Raphael both worked on the architecture and design of St. Peters, the original plans were designed by Bramante. You can see the rounded top of the Basilica easily, as it soars above Vatican hill.
From Quiz: Famous Sights Of Rome
Answer: Eternal City
The ancient Romans called their city 'Urbs Aeterna' ('Eternal City' in English).
From Quiz: All About Rome
Answer: The Chapel of St. Lawrence
It consists of 28 marble steps brought from Jerusalem and believed to be those climbed by Jesus on his way to see Pontius Pilate.
Pious pilgrims ascend them on their knees while reciting prayers.
From Quiz: Rome off the Beaten Path
Answer: Hadrian
The favored designer of Hadrian was Apollodorus of Damascus. But Hadrian was unhappy with his design. He undertook the project himself. It was built between the years 123 and 135 AD.
From Quiz: Famous Sights Of Rome
Answer: Roberto Rossellini
The movie tells the story of the lives of people living in Rome during the Nazi occupation, after the Germans had declared it an 'open city.' It is considered a masterpiece, one of the most important movies in the history of cinema.
From Quiz: All About Rome
Answer: 1870
When Italy was unified in 1861-70, Rome and the surrounding area (the 'Patrimony of St. Peter') was the last part to be incorporated in Italy, some years after the rest of the Papal States. From 1861-64, the capital was Turin (Torino), in 1864 it was moved to Florence (Firenze) and finally to Rome in 1870.
From Quiz: Rome
Answer: An open air market
It is a very popular and busy fruit and vegetables market. At night, a fun place for dining al fresco.
In the Middle Ages it used to be a meadow, hence the name. On February 17, 1600, the philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned there at the stake for heresy, for he believed that the earth revolved around the sun. Now his statue stands at the center of the square.
From Quiz: Rome off the Beaten Path
Answer: The Flavian Amphitheater
The Flavian Amphitheater was built between 72 and 80 AD. It could seat over 50,000 spectators (who got in for free for many events!). It was the site of gladiatorial games, drama performances and especially fights to the death between humans and animals. It is estimated that about 500,000 people and a million animals died during 443 years of performances.
From Quiz: All Roads Lead To...
Answer: the Colosseum
The Colosseum was built during the years 70 to 82 AD. Vespasian was the designer, and it was inaugurated by the Emperor Titus in 80AD. Everyone knows of the gladiator fights held there. But did you know that the Colosseum was built to be water tight so water battles could take place between Roman ships?
From Quiz: Famous Sights Of Rome
Answer: Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn played Princess Anne who, on a diplomatic visit to Rome, meets an American journalist Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) and falls in love with him. The film was directed by William Wyler. Catherine Oxenberg played Princess Anne in the 1987 remake of 'Roman Holiday', which wasn't a great success though.
From Quiz: All About Rome
Answer: The Renaissance and Baroque areas converging on the Piazza del Popolo
The three main streets converging on (or radiating out from) the Piazza del Populo are often referred to as 'the trident' or 'il tridente viario' in Italian. This area contains a wealth of tourist attractions, including the Spanish Steps. Castel Gandolfo, the Pope's summer residence, is outside the city - as is Ostia. Civitavecchia is a town about 45 miles north-west of Rome.
From Quiz: Rome
Answer: cats
There is a law that allows cats to live without disruption in the place where they were born. If you look carefully, you will see hundreds of wild cats climbing the walls of the Colosseum, and sleeping among the ruins of the Forum. At the Largo de Torre de Argentina you can see a cat sanctuary amongst the ruins of four Republican temples.
From Quiz: Enjoy Your Trip to Rome
Answer: mosaic
Mosaic as an art form started in Mesopotamia in the 3rd millennium BC, and its employ for decorative purposes was widespread in ancient Rome. From the 4th century AD, mosaics started being used to decorate churches. Though the dazzling Byzantine mosaics found in Ravenna's churches and Venice's St Mark's Basilica often steal the show, Rome offers a wide range of gorgeous masterpieces of this ancient art. The three churches mentioned in the question are home to some outstanding examples of mosaic art dating from different periods of the Middle Ages, but they are not the only ones. The papal basilicas of Santa Maria Maggiore. San Giovanni in Laterano and San Paolo fuori le Mura all boast magnificent mosaics with extensive gold backgrounds, as do the minor basilicas of SS. Cosma and Damiano and San Clemente, both close to the Colosseum. The mosaics are most frequently located in the apse, whose concave shape emphasizes the luster of the tiles and lends dimension to the images.
From Quiz: Rome Wasn't Built in a Day
Answer: Medieval weaponry and relics
As a medieval castle, Castle St.Angelo was used numerous times to defend the city from barbarians. As evidenced by the angel sculpture on top, it was made into a church early on, thus saving it from the anti-pagan sentiment leading to demolition.
From Quiz: When in Rome, Do ...
Answer: The Roman Forum
The Roman Forum was built between the years 100 to 300. It was here where all political and public speaking occurred. It was the core of the ancient city. (There is no Via Espsito that I know of. Esposito is my maiden name.)
From Quiz: Famous Sights Of Rome
Answer: Omnes viae Romam ducunt
'Tutte le strade portano a Roma' is Italian, 'Todos os caminhos levam a Roma' is Portuguese and 'Toate drumurile duc la Roma' is Romanian. The ancient Romans were famous for their roads which were built all over the Roman Empire, hence the proverb.
From Quiz: All About Rome
Answer: 2.7 million
Though the biggest Italian city, it's somewhat small for the capital of a European country of the size and population of Italy. Part of the reason is the immense cultural and economic significance of many of the main regional centers, such as Turin (Torino), Milan (Milano), Bologna, Florence (Firenze) and Naples (Napoli).
From Quiz: Rome
Answer: Quirinal
The Quirinal is the highest of the Roman hills. Expect a steep walk to get up there! Building of the presidential palace began in 1574, but was not completed until the 18th century. It used to be the summer residence of the Popes, until 1870. You can visit the interior of the Palace on Sundays only, but it is well worth a look.
From Quiz: Enjoy Your Trip to Rome
Answer: Santa Maria sopra Minerva
As its name implies, the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva (St Mary above Minerva) was built on the ruins of a temple dedicated to Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom (or, more probably, to the Egyptian goddess Isis). The church, whose construction was started by the Dominicans in 1280, was modelled on the Florentine Church of Santa Maria Novella, one of the masterpieces of Italian Gothic architecture. While the facade is in a sober early Renaissance style, the interior shows the church's Gothic origins, even with the rather gaudy 19th-century additions. In the 17th century, Santa Maria sopra Minerva became the headquarters of the Roman Inquisition, and Galileo Galilei was tried for heresy in one of the rooms of the adjoining convent. The church, which is a minor basilica like other important Roman churches, contains a large number of works of art, including a statue of Christ by Michelangelo. The body of St Catherine of Siena, Italy's patron saint together with St Francis of Assisi, is preserved under the main altar; the great early Renaissance painter Fra Angelico is also buried there. In the piazza outside the church, one of Rome's original Egyptian obelisks can be found, supported by the statue of an elephant by famed Baroque sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Santa Maria sopra Minerva is located behind the Pantheon, in Rome's historic district of Campo Marzio.
The remaining three options are also minor basilicas. San Pietro in Vincoli houses Michelangelo's famed statue of Moses, and Santa Croce in Gerusalemme the relics of the Holy Cross, while Santa Maria degli Angeli (built inside the ruins of the Baths of Diocletian) was designed by Michelangelo.
From Quiz: Rome Wasn't Built in a Day
Answer: Nicola Salvi (finished by Pannini)
Although many people believe that the Trevi fountain was designed by Bernini, this is untrue. Bernini resited the original Trevi Fountain from the opposite side of the piazza to its current position. However, this fountain was torn down and replaced with Salvi's Trevi Fountain between 1732 and 1762.
From Quiz: All Roads Lead To...
Answer: so the greatest number of people could be blessed by the pope
The architect and designer of the Piazza of St. Peters was Bernini, and it was constructed during the ears 1656 and 1667. Pope Alexander VII was concerned that not enough citizens were able to see him and be blessed by him. Hence, the building of the square.
From Quiz: Famous Sights Of Rome
Answer: important work takes time
It took centuries for the ancient Rome to grow from a small town to the capital of a great empire. By citing this proverb, you encourage somebody to be patient.
From Quiz: All About Rome
Answer: The Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea - the body of water between the western coast of Italy and Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica - is in effect an arm of the Mediterranean, but it is customary to refer to it by its own name.
From Quiz: Rome
Answer: A trompe l'oeil ceiling
The ceiling of the nave is decorated with a breathtaking trompe l'oeil fresco of the Jesuit Andrea Pozzo. He was a master of perspective and created on a flat surface the illusion of a dome where there is none.
The best view of the ceiling is from a small yellow dot on the floor of the nave. If you stand on it and look up, the perspective will cause the ceiling to literally seem to extend all the way up to heaven.
From Quiz: Rome off the Beaten Path
Answer: Gina Lollobrigida
The film was directed by Luigi Zampa (released in 1954). 'Lollo' played a young woman named Adriana who becomes a prostitute.
From Quiz: All About Rome
Answer: Michelangelo's Pieta
The Pieta is a very moving sculpture of Mary cradling her son after the crucifiction. It is Michelangelo's only signed work - look very carefully at the Madonna's sash. Sadly, the statue has to be kept behind bullet-proof glass following a hammer attack in 1972. This is not the only worthwhile part of the church however - the entire building is awe-inspiring.
From Quiz: Enjoy Your Trip to Rome
Answer: A memorial to WWII victims
On March 23, 1944, Italian members of the resistance detonated a bomb near a column of marching Germans. Thirty-three of them died. The Germans promptly retaliated by massacring 335 Italians, 10 for every German, as Hitler had ordered. The victims were taken from jailed political dissidents, but since there were not enough of them, the number was rounded up with innocent civilians bystanders. By mistake there were 335 instead of 330. The site of the slayings was the Fosse Ardeatine, an ancient catacomb.
Now a memorial has been erected there to honor the victims.
From Quiz: Rome off the Beaten Path
Answer: It is situated on the tomb of St. Peter
St. Peter was one of Jesus' twelve apostles. The Bible tells how Jesus gave him two keys (a gold one for Heaven and a silver one for Earth). This is why the modern day Pope's symbol is of two crossing keys. St. Peter is considered the first Pope.
From Quiz: All Roads Lead To...
Answer: A translation error
The Genesis' description of Moses in the original Hebrew inspired Michelangelo, but his translation left much to be desired. As the Hebrew word for "horns" and "ray of light" are similar, this weird statue owes its peculiarity to a linguistic error.
From Quiz: When in Rome, Do ...
Answer: Romulus
According to the legend, the city of Rome was named after Romulus. Remus was Romulus's brother. Romulus Augustus was the last of the Western Roman Emperors. Romanus means simply 'Roman' in Latin.
From Quiz: All About Rome
Answer: It was consecrated a church in AD 609.
The Pantheon was first begun in 27 BC but completely rebuilt in AD 118-25. In AD 609 it was consecrated a church, which meant that it could not be used as a source of stone and other building materials. This latter practice did more damage to many Ancient Roman buildings than the barbarian invasions. Indeed, as late as the 1830s visitors to Rome sometimes helped themselves to small stones as souvenirs!
From Quiz: Rome
Answer: Genesis
The 800 square metres of ceiling took Michaelangelo four years to paint. Probably the most famous scene is the Creation of Adam, where God's pointed index finger gives Adam life. Don't forget to look at the walls too - as well as Michaelangelo's Last Judgement, you can see fresco panels by various artists, including Ghirlandaio, Signorelli and a beautiful Botticelli maiden.
From Quiz: Enjoy Your Trip to Rome
Answer: Quirinal
The Quirinal is the highest of Rome's seven hills. It takes its name from the name given to Romulus, the founder and first king of the city, after his death, when he was identified with the Sabine god Quirinus. The sprawling Quirinal Palace is one of the largest palaces in the world, with an area of 110,500 mē (1,189,412 sq ft), to which the extensive gardens should be added. The palace was built on a site that had been in use since Roman times; its construction began in 1583, as a papal summer residence away from the unhealthy influence of the river. Some of the most celebrated architects of the 16th and 17th century - such as Domenico Fontana, Carlo Maderno, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini - were involved in the building of the palace, which was completed in the 18th century. When Rome became the country's capital in early 1871, the Quirinal Palace became the residence of the Kings of Italy, and, after the referendum of June 1946, of the Presidents of the Italian Republic. In the vast square outside the palace, which affords a stunning panoramic view of the centre of Rome, stands an imposing fountain with Roman statues of the twins Castor and Pollux (the Dioscuri) and one of the five Roman-made obelisks mentioned in Question 1.
The three remaining options are all part of Rome's original seven hills.
From Quiz: Rome Wasn't Built in a Day
Answer: As a tomb for Gaius Cestius
A marble and brick tomb, it was built at the beginning of the 1st century B.C.E. for Gaius Cestius, an important politician and praetor. Later it was incorporated in the Aurelian Wall.
From Quiz: Rome off the Beaten Path
Answer: Triumphal Arches
Triumphal Arches were built to commemorate both battles and individuals. In the Imperial Era, they were built to span the entire roadway where the victors would march back to the palaces. The triumphal arches were decorated with relief sculptures and Latin inscriptions.
From Quiz: There's No Place Like Rome
Answer: Romulus
Legend has it that twins Romulus and Remus were sons of a vestal virgin, who had been seduced by Mars, the god of war. The king (their uncle) ordered the newborn babes to be killed. A servant left them in the woods where they were weaned and raised by a she-wolf. When they grew older, Romulus and Remus helped settle the city that became Rome. They had a fight, which Romulus won and he was crowned first King of Rome.
From Quiz: All Roads Lead To...