Guess My Location Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lincoln Cathedral

Sometimes called St. Mary's Cathedral but officially "The Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln", the construction of Lincoln Cathedral began in 1088. By 1311, the central spire stood 524 feet high, surpassing the old St Paul's Cathedral in London by 35 feet. More than two centuries later, in 1549, the spire collapsed to leave the 495-foot high St. Mary's Church in Stralsund, Germany as the world's tallest building.

Whilst in Lincoln, I had hoped to see the Magna Carta. The copy owned by Lincoln Cathedral has long been on display at Lincoln Castle, but at the time of my visit it was on loan to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. The other surviving original copies can be seen at Salisbury Cathedral or at the British Museum (which has two of four remaining originals).

Answer: Sweden

The official residence of the Swedish royal family is Stockholm Palace (aka the Royal Palace), located on Stadsholmen ('city island') in the Old Town district of the Swedish capital. Built in 1580, Drottningholm Palace is on Lovon Island in Lake Mälaren, on the western outskirts of Stockholm.

The primary site of the royal court for most of the 1700s but now the royal family's private residence, Drottningholm Palace was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991 and is also a popular tourist destination.

The current Chinese Pavilion (pictured) dates back to the 1760s and replaced the original 1753 wooden building that was a birthday present from King Adolf Fredrik to his wife, Queen Lovisa Ulrika.

Answer: Vienna

Although he was born in Bree in what was then the Habsburg Netherlands and is now Belgium, the largest collection of works by the 16th-Century master Pieter Brueghel the Elder is to be found in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The collection housed here includes Brueghel's "Tower of Babel" (pictured), "The Hunters in the Snow" and "The Peasant Wedding" as well as works by Rubens, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Raphael, Dürer and Caravaggio. There is also series of portraits of Spanish royalty (a branch of the Habsburg family) by Diego Velázquez.

Answer: Ethiopia

Established as a national park in 1969, the Simien Mountains in northern Ethiopia were in 1978 designated as one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Within the park, Ras Dashen rises to a height of 14,928 feet, the 10th-highest point in Africa and the highest in Ethiopia. Wildlife watchers visiting the Simien Mountains may also see the Ethiopian wolf (another endangered species found nowhere else), the caracal (or desert lynx), the gelada baboon and the bearded vulture.

Answer: Port Elizabeth

The St George's Cricket Ground in Port Elizabeth, also known as Crusaders' Park and as the Axxess DSL Oval, is the home of the Chevrolet Warriors who represent Eastern Province & Borders in Franchise Cricket. The ground hosted South Africa's first ever test match in March 1889, when the home side lost to England by eight wickets. It has since hosted more than twenty test matches, numerous One Day Internationals and was one of the venues for both the 2003 Cricket World Cup and the 2009 Indian Premier League. One end of the ground is known as the "Park Drive End" while the other is the quaintly-named "Duckpond End".

The photo shows how many cricket fans would have reached the ground to watch that first test match in Port Elizabeth -- the city's double-decker electric tram service.
For the record, Newlands is the test match venue in Cape Town, the Sahara Stadium Kingsmead serves the same purpose in Durban, and in Johannesburg games are played at Wanderers Stadium.

Answer: New Zealand

The Mâoris named it "Piopiotahi" (after the now-extinct thrush-like piopio bird) whilst in English it is called Milford Sound (after Milford Haven in Wales). Located in the southwestern corned of New Zealand's South Island, Milford Sound is a ten-mile long fjord with 4,000-foot and higher sheer rock faces on both sides. Seals, whales and dolphins are regular visitors and it is also an important breeding site for the Fiordland crested penguin (aka "Tawaki" in Mâori).

Despite its relatively remote location, Milford Sound is New Zealand's most popular tourist destination, attracting up to one million visitors annually.

Answer: Thailand

Located on the west bank of Chao Phraya River to the south-west of the old city of Ayutthaya, the temples of Wat Chaiwatthanaram were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1991. The temples themselves were constructed in 1630 during the reign of King Prasat Thong.

Founded in the mid-14th century, Ayutthaya succeeded Sukhothai as the capital of the Kingdom of Siam. With more than one million inhabitants, it was one of the world's largest cities in the early 18th century and it remained as national capital until it was destroyed in 1767 by the invading Burmese army. Just an hour north of Bangkok by train or road, the city and its temples are now a major destination for tourists.

Answer: South Dakota

The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie granted the western half of what is now the state of South Dakota plus part of northern Nebraska to the Sioux nation and, specifically to the Teton (or Lakota) Sioux. Despite this commitment, Custer led an expedition of U.S. soldiers into the Black Hills in the southwestern corner of the Dakota Territory. The discovery of gold soon saw the arrival of thousands of explorers. Although the Sioux refused to grant mining or land rights to the settlers, the U.S. failed to prevent their arrival. The Sioux were defeated in the war that followed and the U.S. government broke up the "Great Sioux Reservation" into the five reservations that still exist today.

More than a century later, in 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court finally ruled that the Black Hills region had been illegally taken from the Sioux, and ordered the government to pay compensation. The Lakota refused to accept the money and insist instead they want the land returned to them. The case still remains unresolved.
The photo shows Main Street in the town of Custer, SD, in the centre of the Black Hills. This is where Custer left from on his way to the ill-fated Battle of Little Bighorn. The surrounding area is designated as Custer State Park.

Answer: Mission San Antonio de Valero, San Antonio TX

Built in 1744 by Franciscan priest Antonio de Olivares and Payaya Indians, the Mission San Antonio de Valero is better remembered today simply as "The Alamo". The famous siege (or "Battle of the Alamo" lasted more than two weeks, from February 23 until March 6, 1836.

Mostly destroyed by the Mexican army when they left after the Texas Revolution, a concerted campaign to restore the historic site was conducted through the early 20th Century. In 1960, The Alamo was declared a "National Historic Landmark". The "Alamo Plaza Historic District" was designated in 1977. Since 2002, more than four million visitors annually have made The Alamo one of the country's most popular tourist destinations.

Answer: Peru

UNESCO designated the Lima Historic Centre as a World Heritage Site in 1988. At the heart of the centre is the "Plaza San Martin" (pictured), with its monument to José de San Martín, the liberator of Peru, in its centre. Also worth visiting within the historical district is the Torre Tagle Palace, Government Palace (the official residence of the Peruvian President) and the 17th-century Basilica and Convent of San Francisco. Founded by the Spanish colonials in 1551, The National University of San Marcos is one of the world's oldest centres of higher learning and the longest continually-functioning university in the New World.