Mountains of Europe Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pico del Teide

Located on Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, Pico del Teide towers above the island with its 3,718-metre (12,198-ft) summit. In terms of topographic prominence, it is the third of Europe's ultra-prominent peaks, preceded only by Elbrus and Mont Blanc.

This imposing stratovolcano was sacred to the Guanches, the aboriginal inhabitants of the archipelago. With its history of destructive eruptions (the most recent dating from 1909), Teide is one of the 16 Decade Volcanoes, highly monitored volcanoes situated in close proximity to densely populated areas. Teide National Park, including the volcano and its surroundings, is one of the most visited natural attractions in Europe, and an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2007. An important international observatory is located on Teide's slopes.

Answer: Mount Parnassus

Surrounded by olive groves and beautiful countryside, the limestone dome of Mount Parnassus (Parnassos in Greek) overlooks the famous archaeological site of Delphi and the modern town of the same name. With a height of 2,457 m (8,061 ft), it is one of Greece's highest mountains, and a renowned ski resort and national park characterized by rich biodiversity. Even more important, however, is Mount Parnassus' role in Greek mythology - as the home of the Muses, the nine goddesses of science, literature and the arts, and also sacred to Apollo and Dionysus.

A quarter of Paris on the Seine's Left Bank, popular with artists and poets in the 18th century, was named Montparnasse after this iconic Greek mountain.

Answer: Kebnekaise

A range called the Scandinavian Mountains, or Scandes, runs through the Scandinavian Peninsula. Though not very high, these mountains have very steep sides, especially those facing west, which drop into the North Sea to form the famed Norwegian fjords.

While the range's highest peak, Galdhřpiggen, is located in the southern part of the peninsula, on the Norwegian side, Kebnekaise lies in the northern region of Lapland (Sápmi), about 150 km (93 mi) north of the Arctic Circle. The massif, covered in scenic glaciers, has two peaks, the highest of which stands at 2,097 m (6,886 ft).

In the summer of 2018, during a record heatwave, Kebnekaise  made the news because the glacier on the southern peak (the highest of the two) melted, causing the peak to shrink in height.

In Europe there are no higher mountains north of Kebnekaise. The original Northern Sami name of the mountain is Giebmegáisi - from "giebmi" (kettle, cauldron) and "gáisi" (peak).

Answer: Triglav

Called Terglau in German and Tricorno ("three-cornered hat") in Italian, Triglav (2,864 m/9,396 ft) is the highest peak of the Julian Alps, located at the south-easternmost end of the Alpine arch. It is found in northwestern Slovenia, near the border with Austria and Italy.

Its name, meaning "three-head", refers to the mountain's distinctive three-peaked shape, and it may be related to the name of the three-headed Slavic deity Triglav. This beautiful mountain, Slovenia's national symbol, stands at the centre of a gorgeous national park, famous for its lakes and waterfalls.

A small metal structure, the Aljaz Tower, stands on the mountain's summit: built in 1895, it is used as a storm shelter and triangulation point.

Answer: Monte Rosa

Monte Rosa, situated between the Swiss Canton of Valais and the Italian regions of Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta, is a huge massif in the Pennine Alps. Though the the mountain's name is generally interpreted as meaning "pink mountain" in Italian, the name is instead derived by a local term meaning "glacier", a reference to the vast expanses of ice covering the massif. Monte Rosa's highest peak, Dufourspitze (named after the Swiss engineer Guillaume Henri Dufour, co-founder of the Red Cross) is located on the Swiss side, in the municipality of Zermatt, very close to the Italian border.

At an elevation of 4,634 m (15,203 ft), it is the second-highest mountain in the Alps and Europe outside the Caucasus.

Answer: Hekla

Compared to most of the mountains mentioned in this quiz, Hekla cannot be called very high (1,488 m/4,882 ft), but what it lacks in elevation it definitely makes up for in terms of extension. In fact, this stratovolcano located in southern Iceland looks like an overturned boat, whose keel is formed by a series of craters.

Hekla (whose name means "hooded cloak", probably referring to the clouds that often cover the mountain's summit) has been active since prehistoric times, though with periods of dormancy.

Its first recorded eruption - whose explosive violence earned the mountain its unflattering nickname of "gateway to Hell" - occurred in 1104, after over 250 years of dormancy, and its most recent in 2000. Most of the tephra (volcanic material) found on Iceland comes from Hekla's frequent eruptions (at least 20 since the Middle Ages).

Besides its interest for volcanologists, Hekla is a popular hiking destination: a trail, re-established after the 2000 eruption, reaches the summit of the mountain.

Answer: Musala

Standing at an imposing 2,925 m (9,598 ft), Musala is the highest peak of the Rila Mountains in southwestern Bulgaria, not far from the country's capital of Sofia; it is also the highest mountain between the Alps and the Caucasus, and the seventh ultra-prominent peak in the European continent. Musala is part of the Rila National Park, one of Europe's most important protected areas, noted for the rich flora and fauna of its forests and lakes. Due to the mountain's cold climate, the snow cover on Musala lasts for about six months a year. Musala's name harks back to the Ottoman domination of Bulgaria, as it comes originally from the Arabic "mus Allah" (Allah's mountain); its original name was Tangra, after a Turkic deity worshipped by the Bulgars.

Answer: Gran Sasso

The magnificent Gran Sasso d'Italia sits at the centre of one of Italy's most popular national parks, mostly located in the Abruzzo region, and famous for its wildlife - which includes wolves and the rare Marsican bear. Of the massif's three main summits, the Corno Grande (Great Horn) is the highest at 2,912 m (9,554 ft); the only glacier in the Apennines, the Calderone glacier - threatened by climate change - is located just below it.

A two-lane highway tunnel under the Gran Sasso was opened in 1984; part of the tunnel's construction was also an underground laboratory, opened in 1989, and renowned for its experiments in particle and nuclear physics. Gran Sasso, though not as well-known outside Italy as many Alpine peaks, is a popular destination for winter sports, hiking and climbing.

Answer: Zugspitze

With a height of 2,962 m (9,718 ft), Zugspitze is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains, a range in the Eastern Alps shared between the German state of Bavaria and the Austrian state of Tyrol. The border between the two countries runs over the mountain's western summit.

The top of the Zugspitze (a name probably referring to the avalanche paths, or "Zugbahnen", which sweep down from the sides of the mountain) can be reached by three cable cars; there climbers and tourists are welcomed by a mountain hut built by the German Alpine Club.

A few kilometers north of Zugspitze lies the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany's best-known mountain resort, which hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics.

Answer: Elbrus

The name of Europe's highest mountain (5,642 m/18,510 ft) comes from the Persian "Alborz" (Hara Berezaiti), a legendary mountain mentioned in the Avesta (the main religious text of Zoroastrianism); the name Alborz also refers to a mountain range in Iran. Located in the Caucasus range, near the border with Georgia, Elbrus has two summits, both of them dormant volcanic domes; the last eruption occurred some time around 50 AD, though volcanic activity such as fumaroles and hot springs can be observed on the mountain's slopes. Elbrus was known by the Romans as Strobilus (pine cone) because of the distinctive shape of its summit.

In Greek mythology, Elbrus was the mountain to which the Titan Prometheus was chained by Zeus as punishment for having given fire to humankind.

This majestic mountain is covered by a permanent icecap, which feeds 22 glaciers and three rivers. Climbing Elbrus, though not technically difficult, is considered particularly dangerous because of the cold and windy weather.