Can You Name All of These Famous Sites From Around the World?
By: Jody Mabry
5 min
Image: Shutterstock
About This Quiz
Have you ever gone on a trip to a faraway place and caught yourself staring in awe? Well, there are places on our small planet that we call Earth. Do you consider yourself a world traveler? Perhaps, you are an arm-chair traveler surrounding yourself with "National Geographic" magazines. Maybe you love watching television shows about world travel. However you enjoy viewing the world, you surely consider yourself seasoned when it comes to identifying these world sites.Â
Consider stepping up to the base of the Roman Colosseum. Imagine 1500 years ago and the roar of the crowd cheering on gladiators as they battled to their bloody ends. Or, perhaps you are locked in arms while looking out over the windy heights of the Eiffel Tower. Or, maybe you'd like to ponder the secrets of the Great Pyramids.Â
These famous sites around the world -- both modern and ancient -- will inspire you. They will provoke and implore you to set out on adventures you've only dreamed. But, every adventure begins with a step. And your step is to try and identify all of these world sites from an image. Think you can do it? Well, you'll never know if you don't try. Grab your camera and enter this quiz with a spirit of adventure.Â
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Can you identify the national park in this image?
Acadia, Maine
Rocky Mountain, Colorado
Olympic, Washington
Dry Tortugas, Florida
Dry Tortugas has a popular diving spot at Loggerhead Reef, where there's a sunken ship that was built in 1875. Dry Tortugas Park includes multiple reefs and seven islands.
The Colosseum in Rome was completed in 80 AD after it was commissioned eight years earlier by Emperor Vespasian. Its construction was a gift to the Roman people. The Colosseum was used for the next 400 years. Gladiator fights, Christian persecution, as well as battles between wild beasts all took place here. And then it was left to fall into ruin with many stones used in its construction taken away and used elsewhere. Although only about 1/3 of the original​ structure remains, the Colosseum once measured 620 by 513 feet.
The Eiffel Tower was constructed for the World Fair, held in Paris in 1889. In fact, it was the main exhibition at the event. It was also built to showcase France to the world and celebrate 100 years since the French Revolution. Although Gustav Eiffel is credited with designing the tower, it was actually Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier who made the original drawings. The tower itself is constructed from wrought iron.
The Empire State Building was officially opened in 1931 by President Herbert Hoover with the flick of a switch which turned on the lights while he sat in Washington. It had taken 3,400 men a mere 410 days to complete. Including the cost of the land on which it stands, the overall cost of construction totaled $40,948,900. There are over 6,514 windows, 1,872 steps and 73 elevators in the building. And believe it or not, it has its own zip code.
Perhaps the most famous ruins in the world, the Pyramids at Giza in Egypt were built between 2550 and 2490 BC. Three different Pharaohs were involved in their construction - Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure. These impressive structures served as burial chambers for the Pharaohs as they journeyed to the afterlife. Of the wonders of the ancient world, only the Pyramids remain.
Great Smokey Mountains, Tennessee and North Carolina
Bryce Canyon, Utah
This park is located in southern Utah and was established in 1928. Popular activities are: hiking, winter skiing, winter sleigh rides, horse back riding and biking.
Edouard de Laboulaye was a political Frenchman who admired the democracy of the U.S. His motivation for suggesting a monument as a gift to the U.S. to celebrate the perseverance in freedom, was the hope that the French would pull away from the monarchy system and be inspired to create their own democracy.
Easily the most recognized structure in Australia, the Sydney Opera House sits on Bennelong Point in Sydney harbor. It was completed in 1973 and took 16 years to finish at a cost of $AU 102,000,000. It was the brainchild of Danish architect Jørn Utzon and was built by Australian construction firm, M R Hornibrook. More than two million people watch cultural activities in the building each year.
Neushwanstein Castle was the inspiration for Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom. Even though it is built in a medieval style, it was assembled with all the modern technology of the day (late 1800s), including flushing toilets. Construction was never completely finished.
Found in Athens, the Acropolis is situated on a hill overlooking the city. It was commissioned by Pericles, a general and Greek statesman. Building began in 447 BC. It's centerpiece is the Parthenon, designed and built by some of the greatest tradesmen of the time, including sculpture Phidias who carved Zeus's statue at Olympus, one of the wonders of the ancient world.
Death Valley was introduced as a national park in California in 1994. Death Valley is known for its sweltering hot temperatures; the hottest recorded temperature was 134 degreed Fahrenheit in 1913.
One of the most recognizable buildings in India, the Taj Mahal was built by Shah Jahan, a Mughal emperor. He did so as he wanted somewhere to keep the remains of his beloved wife who had died while giving birth to their 14th child. The building took 20 years to complete and was constructed out of white marble. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1983.
Translated to "Christ the Redeemer," the original design has Christ holding a cross in one hand and the world in the other. With collaboration between the two designers, Paul Lindowski and Silva Costa, the final product shows Christ with his arms outstretched and palms open.
Located in Wiltshire in the United Kingdom, the ruins at Stonehenge are thought to date back to around 3100 BC. Although it is not known exactly for what it was used, speculation includes reasons ranging from sacrifice to astronomy. It wasn't all built at once. There are three distinct phases of construction which in all would have taken over thirty million hours of labor. The stones themselves are of a large variety and include bluestone, sarensen and Welsh sandstone.
Sitting on the border of Transylvania, Bran Castle was the inspiration for the setting in Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula." The castle took 11 years to build, with the initial construction document drafted in 1377 by the Hungarian King Louis the Great.
This park is located in south central Kentucky and is home to a gigantic system of underground caves. Slaves were among the first guides of the caves in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
One of the twin spiral staircases in the building has two extra steps to compensate for the lean. It contains seven bells, all halted for fear they will contribute to more leaning. The largest bell is over 8,000 pounds.
Another design by Frank Lloyd Wright, the greatest-ever American architect, Fallingwater was constructed between 1936 and 1939. Incredibly, parts of it were built over a waterfall that stands 30 feet tall. In 1966, it was proclaimed as a National Historic Landmark. It is also known as the Kaufmann Residence.
Manneke Pis translates to "little man pee" and in its early years was used to distribute water to the people of the city. The little boy is dressed up to mark special events and occaasions.
This wondrous palace is full of marble. Marble floors, marble walls, marble sculptures. With the gold-leaf gate and the famous hall of mirrors, this palace is a must see for castle enthusiasts. This was once the residence of French royals.
The construction of St Peter's Basilica started in 1506 under Pope Julius II and was only completed in 1615 under Pope Paul V. Not only is the building an impressive structure, it is filled with priceless Renaissance art, including Michelangelo’s Pietà and the statue of St. Longinus.
Ivan the Great was a big factor in growing the Kremlin, for he made it the center of unified Russia. Onion domes allow snow to slide off, rather than accumulate. The domes' colors are symbolic -- gold represents celestial glory.
The Great Wall of China is an extremely impressive feat of engineering. It is over 13,000 miles in length and was built as a defensive wall. It took over 2,300 years to build and spanned five Dynasties. The wall was even added to in the 1950s. It remains one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world with certain sections receiving 70,000 visitors per day.
With construction starting in 1929, $250,000 was the budget to begin sculpting. Approximately 400 workers blasted away over 450,000 tons of rock using the most advanced methods.
This park is on the coast of Maine and was first called Lafayette National Park in 1919. In 1929, it was named Acadia; it is said that this name comes from an Italian explorer who admired the area, because he was reminded of Arcadia in Greece.
Hagia Sophia is a beautiful cathedral found in Instanbul in Turkey. In its time it has acted as a church, mosque and now a museum. The building was built between 532 to 537 AD under the instruction of Justinian I, a Byzantium Emporer. The structure itself is noted for its massive dome which is 105 feet wide. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985.
Aushwitz was the biggest Nazi concentration camp with an estimated more than one million people dying while imprisoned there. In 1944, a group of Jewish boys were killed for staging a revolt on the guards while carrying out their work removing corpses from the crematorium.
Archeologists found proof of multiple different cultural groups living here ten thousand years ago. It is considered one of the most vital excavation and archeological spots in the Arctic. Woolly mammoths were once here.
Such a versatile place! The Tower of London served as home to the queen (or king), once served as a prison, houses the crown jewels, once held the mint for creating coin, and was the starter for the London Zoo.
Hadrian's Wall formed the most northwestern boundary of the Roman Empire. It was constructed on the orders of Roman Emperor Hadrian after he visited Britain in 122 AD. The wall itself is an impressive structure, made of stone and is over 73 miles long. The aim of the wall was to separate dangerous British locals from the Romans. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.
Built in the 5th century BC, the Parthenon sits on top of a hill overlooking the city of Athens. It was built as a worship place for the Greek god, Athena. It was designed by two architects Ictinus and Callicrates who were helped by sculptor Phidias. Although the temple was partly destroyed in the 1600s, a fair amount remains and it is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world.
Machu Picchu is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is found in Peru and was once a major Inca city. Although Spain conquered much of the surrounding lands, they never even knew the city existed, thanks to the fact that it is situated high in the Andes mountains. In fact, the city stands at around 2,400 meters above sea-level. It was abandoned during the Spanish invasion and only discovered again in 1911.
This castle is a popular tourist destination, partly because it's been featured as Hogwarts in some "Harry Potter" films. It's the largest inhabited castle in the U.K., after Windsor. You can pretend to be a medieval royal in one of the world's largest treehouses, located in the castle gardens.
This park was established in 1964 and is over 300,000 acres. The Green and Colorado Rivers come together here. The rivers make three divisions in the park; Island in the Sky, the Needles, and the Maze are the names of the three divisions.
The original owners, the McCarthy clan, were presented with a stone after fighting off the English. This later became known as the kissing stone and is said to bring a person the gift of gab. The Blarney House is attached to Blarney Castle.
The Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin is one of China's foremost tourist attractions. It was discovered in 1974 by accident when a well was dug in Lintong. The soldiers are all standing in rank and each has a unique facial expression. The discovery also yielded clay horses, wooden chariots, and various weapons. It is thought that Qin wanted the soldiers to accompany him into the afterlife.
The multi-colored St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow is one of the most famous attractions in the city. It was built on the instructions of Ivan the Terrible and completed in 1560. Legend says that once completed, Ivan blinded builders Barma and Postnik Yakovlev so they could never make anything to compare again. This is simply folklore. The building's full name is "The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin by the Moat."
Petra served at a setting for the Indiana Jones film. Even though the movie shows a great maze of treasures, Petra is simply a facade for a hall that probably served as a tomb. The city is now an Archeological Park.
Remnants of Roman bath houses are scattered across Europe. None more so than in Nice, the site of the ancient Roman city of Cemenelum. Although much of this city remain buried, the baths, a social hub of the Roman Empire, are currently being excavated.
One of the most famous landmarks in London, people often think Big Ben is the name of the tower holding the famous clock. It actually isn't. That tower is called The Elizabeth Tower. Big Ben is the nickname of the bell inside which goes by the official name of the Great Bell.
People living in the ice age trekked here, making this park a popular historical site in addition to a popular winter sports site. The first group to summit the North Peak was in 1910; Denali is over 20,000 feet in elevation.