Are you ready to test your knowledge of Italian culture and history? Here are 19 tricky questions divided into 4 categories. See how many you can get right. We’ll publish the answers next week
A sculpture by Bruno Banana?
Names
1. Which contemporary Italian sculptor, famous for his bronze spheres, is named after a fruit?
2. What was the nickname of the composer of Le Quattro Stagioni?
3. Who was the pizza Margherita named after and why?
4. Several Italian female first names are taken from flowers. Name at least 5
5. A number of Italian male names end with the letter ‘a’. Name at least 5
6. The Cambridge English Dictionary defines ‘volt’ as “the standard unit used to measure how strongly an electrical current is sent around an electrical system”. Too complicated for me! Where does the name for this unit of measurement come from?
History
7. Which important treaty was signed in Rome on the 25th of March 1957 by six European countries, and why was it created?
8. Which pre-Roman culture invented the stone arch?
9. In 1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi lead a group of volunteers, known as I Mille, to conquer il Regno delle Due Sicilie in the south of Italy. Where did the landing take place?
10. Which victory does the colonna Traiana (Trajan’s column) celebrate?
11. One of Italy’s biggest cities, it was founded by the Greeks in the 8th century BC and takes its modern day name from the Greek for ‘new city’. What is it called?
Geography
12. Which is the longest river in Italy?
13. Which is the highest mountain in Italy?
14. What is the name of the mountain range that forms the dorsal spine of Italy?
15. In which geographical area of Italy is most rice cultivated?
Art
16. In which church can you admire Il Cenacolo di Leonardo Da Vinci (Da Vinci’s Last Supper)?
17. Which famous Italian villa, with its impressive array of fountains, nymphs, and grottoes, inspired some of Liszt most famous piano works.
18. Once upon a time it was the capital city of the western Roman Empire. What is its name, and which works of art is it famous for?
19. He was described by the chronicler Giovanni Villani as “the most sovereign master of painting in his time, who drew all his figures and their postures according to nature”. Who painted the influential medieval frescoes shown in the photo above?
You can find the answers to the quiz HERE
Comments:
Rosalind:
I am put to shame! A few years ago, after many visits to Italy, I decided to learn more about Italian history, culture and language and yet, in spite of that, I got only 7 correct answers: 7, 11, 12-15, 18. Such a quiz is useful. Thank you.
Sono vergognosa! Qualche anno fa, dopo parecchi viaggi in Italia, ho deciso di imparare meglio la storia, la cultura e la lingua del paese. Tuttavia ho soltanto ottenuto 7 riposte giuste. Perciò è molto utile il vostro questionario. Grazie.
Rosalind:
Risposte.
Lynn Stewart:
Thanks for this post. You shamed me. Here I am studying Italian, and I don’t know many of these. Waiting for the answers to educate myself!
Janet Austin:
Che bell’immagine. Il bronzo è un capo lavoro di Arnaldo Pomodoro, uno dei più grande scultori contemporanei. Pomodoro ha creato un serio di queste sculture tonde, alcuni che sono intitolato °Sphere within a sphere°.
June:
1. ?
2. Il Prete Rosso
3. La Regina Margherita di Savoia…una pizza in tre colori della bandiera italiana…durante una visita a Napoli nel 1889
4. Rosa, Liliana, Violetta, Giacinta, Margherita
5. Luca, Nicola, Andrea, Elia, Mattia
6. Alessandro Volta di Como
7. Treaty of Rome…la fondazione dell’ EEC
8. I Sumeriani nel 6000 a. C. poi i Romani
9. A Marsala in Sicilia
10. Due vittorie in Dacia/Romania
11. Napoli
12. Il Po
13. Monte Bianco
14. Gli Appennini
15. La regione padana
16. Santa Maria delle Grazie a Milano
17. ?
18. Ravenna…i mosaici
19. Giotto del Bondone
Tim:
1 Arnaldo Pomodoro
2 il Prete Rosso
3 Queen Margherita – the colours of the main ingredients (tomato, mozzarella, basil) are those of the Italian flag
4 Margherita, Camilla, Laura, Fiorella, Rosa, Liliana,
5 Luca, Giambattista, Andrea, Elia, Nicola
6 Alessandro Volta, inventor of the electrical battery
7 Treaty of Roma
8 Mycenaean
9 Marsala
10 Roman victory over Dacians
11 Napoli
12 Po
13 Monte Bianco
14 Appenini
15 Valpadano
16 Santa Maria delle Grazie, Milan
17 Villa d’Este at Tivoli
18 Ravenna, mosaics
19 Giotto
Serena:
@Tim Molto bravo, Tim!
I forgot about the name Giambattista or Battista, complimenti.
For the name Liliana, and for questions 7, 8 and 15, check my answers in here:
https://blogs.transparent.com/italian/italian-general-knowledge-quiz-answers/
Saluti da Serena
Benedict:
Ciao Serena
Posso imparale LA lingual Italiano
VANESSA ANN MERRIMAN:
I LIKE THE FOOD