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Italy Country Quiz

Can you name these facts about the country of Italy?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: January 8, 2020
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First submittedApril 17, 2013
Times taken92,585
Average score72.2%
Rating4.76
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Question
Answer
Tallest mountain
Monte Bianco
Sistine chapel painter
Michelangelo
Longest river
Po
Radio pioneer
Guglielmo Marconi
The ultimate
Renaissance man
Leonardo da Vinci
Volcano that
destroyed Pompeii
Mount Vesuvius
Father of Astronomy
Galileo Galilei
First Roman emperor
Augustus
Pope's bodyguards
Swiss Guard
Nickname of Rome
The Eternal City
Tallest volcano
Mount Etna
Top football league
Serie A
Famous violin maker
who died in 1737
Antonio Stradivari
Currency before 2002
Lira
Italian for Italy
Italia
Biggest Islands
Sicily
Sardinia
 
Bordering Countries
Austria
France
San Marino
Slovenia
Switzerland
Vatican City
 
Founders of Rome
Romulus
Remus
Name the City
English
Italian
2006 Olympic host
Turin
Torino
Capital of Tuscany
Florence
Firenze
Famous for canals
Venice
Venezia
Fashion capital
Milan
Milano
Leaning tower city
Pisa
Origin of pizza
Naples
Napoli
+3
Level 82
Jul 8, 2013
The Eternal City is a catchy nickname, but Italy is actually only in 20th place overall on a list of countries by their oldest cities.

Got most of these, including the above, but for some reason blanked on Turin and a couple other easy ones...

+6
Level 66
Oct 28, 2013
That is correct. But Rome have a particularity: for more than 2000 years is a BIG city, not just a small village. How many, in the top 20 list, can say the same?
+3
Level 82
Dec 8, 2015
Quite a few, actually. Though I believe only Luoyang and maybe Damascus under the Umayyads (not sure) could make the claim that they were ever the largest city in the world, as Rome used to be. Jerusalem, Gaziantep, Faiyum, Athens... all pretty big (historically/comparatively) and important cities much older than Rome.
+2
Level 82
Oct 1, 2016
IRRC, Athens were rather small and unimportant at the time of Greek independence in 1830
+10
Level 82
Mar 27, 2017
Djilas: and Rome became pretty much an overgrown wilderness after the fall of the Roman Empire and following several different barbarian sackings, up until the popes rebuilt the city in the Renaissance.
+14
Level 37
Aug 17, 2017
What does that have to do with the price of Tea in China?

Nobody asked how old Rome or Italy were!

+6
Level 82
Nov 21, 2017
Nobody asked what you thought about the comment or following conversation and yet for some reason you felt compelled to tell us.
+1
Level 75
Nov 9, 2023
I think divantliya was pointing out that you don't know the meaning of 'eternal'. But don't let that get in the way of your snarkiness.
+13
Level 58
Apr 6, 2019
Rome is not nicknamed "Oldest City" but "Eternal City", meaning something different... :-)
+2
Level 82
Apr 6, 2019
If the meaning was intended to be what ivyhooligan commented above that's interesting and something I hadn't considered until it was brought up here. Though, even given that, there are other cities that have been around longer and until all of them die out they're still closer to being eternal for now since we'll never get to the end of time. :)
+5
Level 66
Aug 10, 2019
Yea I found it weird how you starting building a case why it wasnt the oldest. To me that had nothing to do with it, it didnt even occur to me. Eternal is living on for ever. And not about origins.

That being said I do not know the (official) reasoning behind the nickname. But to me I would have never thought about it having something to do with being the earliest city.

+2
Level 40
Sep 10, 2022
no it's actually 3rd with Matera a paleolitic city that now is still an important town in basilicata (souther italy)
+6
Level 73
Jul 8, 2013
I've always thought of Mont Blanc as a French mountain. Never realized it bordered Italy as well.
+2
Level 48
Jul 8, 2013
Mont Blanc is in Italy? I've been living a lie my whole life...
+3
Level 52
May 6, 2014
Me too
+2
Level 31
Dec 8, 2015
No, Mont Blanc is in france, Monte Bianco is in Italy, it is about 100m shorter than mont blanc
+13
Level 89
Apr 6, 2019
Huh?
+17
Level 79
Mar 11, 2020
No mate, it's the same mountain.
+10
Level 79
Mar 11, 2020
It's on the border between France and Italy.
+2
Level 55
Feb 15, 2022
That is disputed by France, who says that France owns the entire mountain, and Italy says that they both have half of the mountain.
+1
Level 59
May 10, 2022
French
+1
Level 50
Aug 4, 2022
I recognized it as a French mountain
+3
Level 40
Sep 10, 2022
every map from 800 is different but the most accurate says that it is slitted in an half, we also know that because there is a shelter on the top of it made by an italian queen
+3
Level 21
Jul 8, 2013
Missed so many of these because I can't spell :'(
+2
Level 67
Apr 4, 2014
Got everything except the radio pioneer. It's always nice to know your neighbour. ;)
+5
Level 80
Apr 6, 2019
I used to live in Chelmsford, England, where Marconi established much of his business and was possibly the largest employer for decades. My own maternal grandfather helped them develop early radio packet switching technology. I myself lived in a terraced house built in 1912 to house employees of the Marconi factory on the next street.
+2
Level 48
Oct 10, 2014
Great quiz! Why not trying some about Portugal and Portuguese culture? Try one of mine!
+2
Level 55
Aug 10, 2015
Le mont Blanc est 100% français. Point.
+28
Level 88
Aug 26, 2015
Except for the part in Italy.
+4
Level 29
Mar 23, 2020
I think they mean the peak is in France; the highest part of the same mountain is in France. Italy has part of the mountain but not the tallest part.
+2
Level 38
Oct 12, 2022
this is simply incorrect
+5
Level 35
Nov 13, 2015
Point... WRONG! Man. Come on. :p
+2
Level 72
Jul 25, 2020
90 minutes can also be an hour and a half. That doesn't make you less you.
+2
Level 78
Dec 8, 2015
Mont Blanc? Italy claims that the peak is a point along the Franco-Swiss border, which of course France rejects and nobody else takes seriously. I hope that this answer is not based on that claim.
+4
Level 66
Oct 1, 2020
Mont Blanc? France claims that the peak is not a point along the Franco-Swiss border, which of course Italy rejects and nobody else takes seriously. I hope that this objection is not based on that claim.
+6
Level 75
Dec 8, 2015
I enjoy these quizzes about world nations. I'm American and it's great to learn new things about other countries besides the capital, largest city, flag, etc.
+1
Level 66
Mar 9, 2020
besides the football question I think this was a nicely balanced quiz, often there are super easy questions, or rather obscure ones these were (to me) not too hard but not boring.

To get back to the football question I think it is fine to have one on here. But I would have asked the name of the most famous club. Even people who dont follow football hear those names now and then (same as with popstars, even if you dont follow it you hear of them), but what are the terms are for different competitions and subdivision or whatever, someone that doesnt follow it wouldnt know. Beyond the term fifa and worldcup. Those you hear often enough

+1
Level 76
Mar 23, 2020
Interesting suggestion. Which IS the most famous Italian football club? I could think of a few. Besides, the answer would probably be the same as one of the cities in the last block, so it would just be a repetition.
+2
Level 45
Mar 25, 2022
Most famous club is a question to which you can't give a definitive answer, Italy has lots of well known and successful football clubs, and what you might think of most famous will depend on where in the world you come from (Argentinians for example will mostly think of Napoli thanks to a certain Mr Maradona).
+1
Level 49
Dec 10, 2015
Mont blanc is not in Italy!! It's in france
+18
Level 47
Dec 13, 2015
Is that so difficult to think that Mount Blanc/Bianco/White is shared between our countries?

It's a petty discussion, as could be a quarrel to decide which country owns the Mediterranean sea...

+11
Level 76
Mar 23, 2020
It's like debating whether Mount Everest is in China or Nepal.
+7
Level 69
Dec 18, 2015
1 - the question about swiss guard regards vatican city, not italy

2 - i think the italian name should be accepted as right answer, in fact is the real name. like Vesuvio for the vulcano for example....

+1
Level 63
Jun 7, 2017
It's probably arguable that the question does not regard Italy. I mean they guard Vatican City but that means they'd be on the border/gates to Rome and maybe even on the Italian side. I can only assume since I've never been there.
+1
Level 47
Jul 24, 2020
Nah, some of them might "guard" the border, but most of them just act as bodyguards to the Pope.
+1
Level 66
Jun 5, 2016
please accept mt blanc
+1
Level 66
Dec 3, 2016
This is what I came here to say as well
+22
Level ∞
Jan 25, 2017
Okay, since you asked twice
+1
Level 66
Aug 10, 2019
Hahaha that's funny!
+1
Level 75
Oct 11, 2019
It's like deja vu all over again
+1
Level 79
Mar 11, 2020
Haha! 😁
+1
Level 64
Feb 16, 2022
Modern problems require modern solutions
+1
Level 54
Dec 3, 2016
tried fiorentina, fiorenza, fiorenzia, florenza, florienza, florienze, fiorenze, fiorienze, firenza, fierenze, fiorenzo...could not get firenze for the death of me
+1
Level 32
Jan 24, 2017
Serie A is now Calcio A
+5
Level ∞
Jan 25, 2017
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serie_A
+3
Level 82
Mar 27, 2017
I've been in Italy 3 weeks now. Have a few more European myths to bust.

Myth 1: you can't have a bad meal in Italy. *So* wrong. If anything it's difficult to find a good one. So many 3rd-rate pasta and pizza shops everywhere. Makes me miss the high standards of Olive Garden and Chef Boyardee sometimes. Though Venchi gelato is nice.

Myth 2: pizza was invented in Naples. Myth 3: they still make the best pizza in the world there.

So today I am in Napoli and I've had so much bad pizza in Italy I decided to seek out the *best* pizzeria in the city in Italy most famous for its pizza. Found the #1 place as confirmed in a dozen different lists and the book Eat Pray Love. Went there for lunch.

What passes for pizza in this place is basically a blob of wet, droopy, drippy, mushy dough covered in oil. There is some small globs of cheese here and there but mostly bare crust. and one pathetic sprig of basil in the middle.

+2
Level 82
Mar 27, 2017
Somehow with 75% less cheese and 100% less meat than the average American pie, they've still managed to make a pizza 300% more greasy. I wouldn't even really call this pizza.

Conclusion 1: Neapolitan pizza is not the best in the world. I'd rather have Pizza Hut. And I hate Pizza Hut.

Conclusion 2: Italians in Naples may have made innovations to Greek pita (flatbread with toppings on it) and called it pizza, but the pizza that is world famous, loved and enjoyed by billions around the world, was not invented in Naples. As I've read before, *this* pizza, one with a circular crust thick enough to hold in one hand without its contents falling everywhere, cut into equal slices to be easily shared, covered with a thick layer of tomato sauce and mozzarella evenly distributed and other savory toppings like pepperoni and sausage and peppers and olives, not so greasy that one slice will give you intestinal cramps... *this* pizza was invented in Little Italy in New York City.

+2
Level 73
Jan 27, 2022
I would argue that there's no such thing as bad pizza! But... the worst pizza - the very worst pizza I have ever had - was from a pizzeria in Rome.
+1
Level 67
May 15, 2023
Come to Chicago and try Sarpino's. That will teach you something about bad pizza.
+1
Level 73
Jan 27, 2022
To clarify, I have also eaten exceptional pizza in Italy
+14
Level 82
Apr 6, 2019
Did you seek out this quiz, purely to express your displeasure at the food you'd eaten in Italy? Seems peculiar.
+2
Level 89
Apr 6, 2019
Yes, I'm sure that was completely intentional.
+1
Level 82
Apr 6, 2019
Not really. I was in Italy for a few months and while there looked up quizzes on Italy to see if I'd learned anything.
+8
Level 66
Aug 10, 2019
No he seeks em all out. I think it is some personal vendetta about pizza. I have seen him make the same comment about pizza on atleast 25 other quizzes..

But maybe this trip to italy was the source of his pizza trauma, that initated all the other comments ;)

+2
Level 89
Jul 24, 2020
All this talk of pizza is now making me crave some.
+1
Level 82
Jul 24, 2020
Sif: the truth bears repeating, as the lie has become so deeply ingrained in people's consciousness that they will dismiss anything else automatically, often angrily.
+1
Level 72
Jul 25, 2020
Once again, Kal, you're mistaking opinions for truth.
+1
Level 67
May 15, 2023
I think he's talking about the origin of pizza being a lie, not his opinion on Napoli's pizza.
+1
Level 45
Mar 25, 2022
I'm not sure using Eat Prey Love as a source for reliable eating-out recommendations is a good idea!
+1
Level 84
Jun 9, 2017
Missed Romulus & Remus. D'OH! Shoulda remembered AS Roma's logo with the two kids sucking on the wolf teats. On second thought, maybe it's good that I forgot that.
+1
Level 71
Nov 23, 2017
But the pope doesn't live in Italy...?
+3
Level 66
Apr 6, 2019
In which way is the Swiss Guard relevant to Italy?
+3
Level 82
Apr 6, 2019
The Swiss Guard was established in 1506. Vatican City gained independence in 1929. *Most* of these answers predate the creation of the modern nation-state of Italy, so they're all related to Italy in the same way.
+2
Level 62
Apr 6, 2019
Is it really accurate to call Galilei the 'father of astronomy', considering there were important astronomical traditions all over the world throughout ancient and medieval times?
+2
Level 82
Apr 6, 2019
Galileo is often called the father of astronomy, or the father of observational or modern astronomy. and it's fair, he made a lot of important contributions and I believe was the first person to try observing celestial bodies with a telescope.
+1
Level 58
Jul 24, 2020
yea i was questioning galileo as the father of astronomy as well.

Copernicus has been considered due to his thesis and observations on the solar system not being geo centric but heliocentric.

Aristotle was considered the premier science guy during the renassonce of europe which included astronomy, the aristotlian view on astronomy was the one accepted as reality by the catholic church for most of the early modern period. He also tends to be the earliest name in astronomy in the west as well

Galileo largely followed copernicus and spent years trying to prove the copernican model, which part of what lead to the issues between him and the church

+1
Level 88
Oct 4, 2021
Ptolemy is the father of Astronomy
+1
Level 5
Jul 19, 2019
Sono italiano e ne ho sbagliate due

I’m italian and i Miss two

+1
Level 66
Aug 10, 2019
Stupidly missed france and sardinia ( couldnt get corsica out of my head) and didnt get (and wouldnt even if I had more time) eternal, po and serie a ( I was thinking of the top footbal club)

Weird/interesting/funny etc how pisa is the best guessed answer, even than the italian name for italy.

+1
Level 66
Mar 9, 2020
got em all but serie a this time
+1
Level 82
Jul 24, 2020
confession: I cheated on that one because I resent always missing the sports questions. :P
+1
Level 42
Aug 12, 2019
i thought the liretta was the italian currency before 2002...
+2
Level 76
Feb 13, 2020
The Sistine Chapel is not in Italy. It is in Vatican City, which is a separate country.
+3
Level 76
Mar 23, 2020
The question is not where the Sistine Chapel is located but who painted it. I'd say the painter was most likely Italian. Also, Vatican City wasn't an independent state before 1929, a long time after the painting of the Chapel's ceiling was completed in the 16th century.
+1
Level 51
Feb 1, 2024
Also Italy isn't necessarily coterminous with the modern state called Italy. The Vatican and San Marino are located on the Italian peninsula.
+1
Level 46
Mar 23, 2020
nice quiz.
+1
Level 63
Jul 24, 2020
Please accept "Seria a" for the football league because that is what it is called in Italian.
+3
Level 58
Jul 24, 2020
It's not.
+1
Level 78
Jul 24, 2020
+1
Level 45
Mar 25, 2022
Too difficult to double check before making assertions?
+2
Level 72
Jul 25, 2020
Just wondering why Remus and Romulus aren't in alphabetical order. (And now, I'm wondering why I bothered wondering.)
+2
Level 65
Feb 8, 2021
Because Romulus was the more famous (he was crowned as the first king of Rome after killing Remus)
+1
Level 45
Mar 25, 2022
euphony
+1
Level 20
Jul 30, 2020
so strict with the spelling cf rhemus, vesuvius et al
+1
Level 45
Mar 25, 2022
Erm, his name was and is spelled Remus in Latin. And a quick look at the spelling in different languages shows that there is no Rhemus spelling in any of the major languages (that use the Latin alphabet).
+1
Level 61
Mar 3, 2021
Did well because I speak Italian and have been to Italy.
+1
Level 43
Oct 29, 2021
The sistin chapel isnt in italy, it is in vatican
+2
Level 59
Dec 15, 2021
it is the painter, who is italian, and when it was painted, it was in italy
+1
Level 26
Dec 29, 2021
Could you accept "L'Italia" for the question asking for Italian for Italy. They are used interchangeably in the same way that "United States," "America," and "USA" are.
+2
Level 65
Mar 3, 2023
No, they are not interchangeble. It's like say "The USA" for "USA". It is not like "USA" for "United States".

Font: I'm italian.

+2
Level 40
Aug 2, 2022
Surprised myself with everything right!
+1
Level 40
Sep 10, 2022
italian= Italiano Italy= Italia
+2
Level 67
Feb 6, 2023
Got Po by accident
+2
Level 60
Feb 14, 2023
28/36 Boooo. I wanted 36. Boooooooooooo!
+1
Level 62
Nov 26, 2023
Soccer Teams Try To Take Their Name Even Vaguely Memorable Challenge (IMPOSSIBLE!!)
+2
Level 15
Dec 7, 2023
I got 31 of 36, as an Italian I think its pretty good.