What in Cardiff ? Trivia Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Starting off at the Central Bus Station in Cardiff City Centre, walk north up Westgate Street for two or three minutes, you'll see a famous sporting venue built in 1999. What is it?

Answer: Principality Stadium

Opened a year before the London Millennium, just in time to host the Rugby World Cup in 1999, the Millennium Stadium was built on the old National Stadium site. As well as hosting rugby internationals, it is also the home to the Welsh soccer team, and many other events. It was changed to Principality Stadium for sponsorship purposes.

2. Continue walking north up Westgate Street, turn right at the top of the road, and you'll see a massive structure in front of you, some of it dating back to Roman times. What is it?

Answer: Cardiff Castle

Cardiff Castle was first established by the Romans - and the Roman Keep can still be seen in the middle of the Castle Grounds. The Normans added the outer walls, and it was further "embellished" in Victorian times by the 3rd Marquess of Bute who commissioned William Burges to turn it into ... something quite unique, that has to be seen to be believed !

3. Continue northward, up North Road - and you'll soon pass the "Alma Mater" of one of Wales' most popular contemporary stars. Where was Sir Anthony Hopkins educated?

Answer: The Welsh College of Music and Drama

As well as Sir Anthony, other well known stars of stage and screen educated at the College include Ruth Jones (Little Britain and Gavin & Stacey), Eve Myles (Torchwood) and Dougray Scott (Enigma, Mission Impossible II, Desperate Housewives).

4. Carry on up North Road, and a mile or so later, you'll see a sports complex which hosted numerous events at a famous sports festival. What event do we primarily associate with Maindy Stadium?

Answer: 1958 Empire and Commonwealth Games

Maindy Stadium was home, for years, to the famous Cardiff Athletic Club. It hosted the Cycling events at the 1958 games, and it also now has a swimming pool, and a football pitch which is home to Maindy Corries.

5. Carry on for another 2-3 minutes travelling north, and another large complex will appear on your right. A very important building for the people of Cardiff - what is it?

Answer: University Hospital Wales

The hospital, which was opened in 1971, is a major 1000-bed hospital situated in the district of Heath in Cardiff, Wales.

It is also the third largest University Hospital in the United Kingdom and is the largest hospital in Wales, providing 24 hour Accident & Emergency and various other specialist departments.

It is also a teaching hospital of Cardiff University School of Medicine.

6. Just beyond the Heath, you'll start to see some hills appearing - and if you look closely, you'll see something that looks as if it's popped up straight out of the pages of a fairy story - what can you see?

Answer: Castell Coch

Castell Coch (The Red Castle) was built, in its current form, as a folly representing a medieval chieftain's castle. Part of the third Marquess of Bute's collaboration with William Burges, it was completed in the 1870s, mainly for use as an "out of town" banqueting hall for the Bute family.

However, considerable evidence exists that the current castle was built on the ruins of a much older castle, probably dating back to Norman times.

7. Turn west, pass through Whitchurch, and then turn south and pass through another village, cross the Taff at Glantaf School (where the actor Ioan Gruffudd and TV Presenter Gethin Jones were educated), and you'll come to the Welsh HQ of a famous British institution. Whose HQ are you looking at?

Answer: BBC Wales

The British Broadcasting Corporation was formed by Royal Charter in 1927, and started transmitting a regular schedule of TV programmes in 1930. BBC Wales started broadcasting its own distinctive Welsh services on February 1 1964, and moved all its operations to Broadcasting House in the suburbs of Cardiff a couple of years later.

8. Heading back towards the city centre, you'll very quickly see a large spire dominating the horizon. To which edifice does this spire belong ?

Answer: Llandaff Cathedral

Llandaff Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, and was established in 1120, although evidence suggests that a church of sorts had existed on the same site for some 500 years prior to that. It was extensively damaged by bombs during WWII. Sir Jacob Epstein created the figure of Christ in Majesty which dominates the nave, and which was unveiled in the 1960s, signalling an end to the restoration work.

9. Carry on to Canton, and you'll come across the original home of the Capital City's Football (soccer) team, Cardiff City. What is the name of the ground that they occupied in 1910?

Answer: Ninian Park

Cardiff City are known as "The Bluebirds" - after a play that was showing at the city's New Theatre when the club moved to their new ground at Ninian Park. They were the first team ever to take the FA Cup out of England, when they beat Arsenal 1-0 at Wembley in 1927. Cardiff fans have the strange but unique habit of slapping their hands to their foreheads in what is believed to be some ancient Celtic ritualistic type thing - or is it?

10. Heading back to the City Centre, we're almost back to where we started, but one last sporting stop. Within sight of our first destination, we walk up the banks of the Taff a short while, pass the Welsh Institute of Sport, and the excellent "Mochyn Du" pub, and we come to the SWALEC Stadium. What sport is played there?

Answer: Cricket

Sorry, I couldn't resist one sheep reference somewhere in the quiz! The SWALEC stadium is home to Glamorgan County Cricket Club, and was formerly known as Sophia Gardens. The extensive rebuilding of the Stadium in 2007 and 2008 has completely transformed the ground, its 15000+ capacity now allowing England to host test matches there.

Source: Author Huw27

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Exit10 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Cardiff is allegedly Europe's fastest growing capital city - yet it's still small enough to get around it quite easily - and this is what you can do by playing this quiz !

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