Architectural Masterpieces: Churches and Villas Across Europe

Architectural Quiz: Churches and Villas

1. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built over the reputed tomb of Christ, is in what city?

b. Jerusalem

2. Andrea Palladio’s Villas

Andrea Palladio (1508-1580 AD) manipulated the approach to his Villas. What is the name of the technique that Palladio utilized so that the Facade is viewed as the Architect intended?

c. Forced Perspective

3. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre’s Style

The Church of The Holy Sepulchre was rebuilt by the Crusaders in what style?

a. Romanesque

4. Hagia Sophia’s Patron

What is the name of the Roman Emperor that commissioned The Byzantine Empire’s magnificent church Hagia Sophia (or Saint Sophia), which was built in what is now Istanbul, Turkey, and has a dome described as “seeming not to rest upon solid masonry, but to cover the space with its golden dome suspended from heaven”?

c. Justinian

5. Santa Sophia’s Apertures

Santa Sophia has a central section of the nave spanned by a vast central dome (107′ diameter), and natural light penetrates apertures at the base of the dome. What are these apertures called?

d. Clerestory Windows

6. St. Mark’s Plan

The plan of St. Mark’s is of a Greek cross with a dome marking the crossing and each of the arms of the cross. However, with the addition of the wrap-around narthex, the plan became:

d. A square

7. Palladio’s Architectural Treatise

What important work on architecture was written by Andrea Palladio that illustrated the Renaissance philosophy of reintroducing the classical antiquity forms of Greece and Rome?

c. The Four Books on Architecture

8. The Italian Renaissance Villa’s Living Area

In the Italian Renaissance Villa, what was the name of the principal living area?

b. The Piano Nobile

9. A Church with a Diverse Exterior

The exterior of this church incorporates the horses from Nero’s Triumphal Arch, the columns from a temple in Alexandria, and marble from 12th-century seafaring captains:

a. St. Mark’s, Venice

10. The Pisa Cathedral Complex

The buildings at the Pisa Cathedral are composed of the following:

a. A church, baptistery, and campanile

11. Renaissance Cathedral Domes

What device was placed on top of the Renaissance Cathedral Domes to provide a vertical component, helping to counter the outward thrust of the dome at its base?

a. A Lantern (Top)

12. The Architects of St. Peter’s

The rebuilding of St. Peter’s in Rome brought together which great Renaissance architects?

a. Michelangelo, Bramante, Raphael, and Bernini

13. St. Mark’s Plaza

The church of St. Mark’s fronts on a very prominent plaza in what Italian city?

d. Venice

14. Church Plans: Narthex and Apse

In terms of Church Plans, the Narthex and the Apse are the same as:

a. Front and Back

15. St. Mark’s Unique Domes

The domes in St. Mark’s are unique because they are made of:

a. Wood Trusses

16. A Romanesque Church with Open Arcades

Which Romanesque Church is unique in that the entrance facade has tiers of open arcades which rise one above the other right into the gable roof end?

d. The Cathedral of Pisa

17. The Pisa Cathedral’s Dome Shape

The Pisa Cathedral Plan has a unique singular dome at the crossing of the Nave and Transept in what shape?

d. An ellipse

18. St. Mark’s Architectural Transition

St. Mark’s design is a transition between the Byzantine and what style?

b. Romanesque

19. The Architect of St. Peter’s and Architectural Drawings

The rebuilding of St. Peter’s in Rome brought together great Renaissance architects. Which was the architect that used, for the first time, the three two-dimensional drawings (still utilized today): the plan, the section, and the elevation to illustrate a building?

d. Raphael

20. St. Peter’s Design Characteristics

The instruction of Pope Julius II was that St. Peter’s reaffirm Rome as the spiritual home of Christianity. This is exemplified in the following design characteristics:

  • Bernini’s Doric Colonnade, which proportionally encircles the plaza in front of St. Peter’s in a monumental scale
  • The Dome, at the height of 167′, is the tallest of any Cathedral
  • The Dome incorporates the Renaissance drum base with clerestory windows and iron chain reinforcing, achieving an internal span of 137′ in diameter

d. All the Above

21. The Pisa Baptistery’s Designer

The Baptistery (1153 to 1265 AD) at Pisa is based on a circular plan with a central space or nave with a 60′ diameter. The inner core is surrounded by a two-story aisle system, which makes the building approximately 130′ in diameter, and the roof is a crown of a hemispherical roof penetrated by a truncated cone capped by a small dome. Who designed the Pisa Baptistery?

c. The architect Dioti Salvi

22. A Spanish Romanesque Church

Name the highly decorated Spanish Romanesque Church that marks the end of the pilgrimage route to the tomb of St. James:

c. Santiago de Compostela

23. Mont. St. Michel’s Foundation

Which statement is true about Mont. St. Michel?

d. Its foundation is incorporated into the solid island bedrock

24. Gothic Monasteries’ Courtyards

In Gothic monasteries, the interior courtyard is called a:

d. Cloister

25. Notre-Dame’s Distinguishing Features

The church of Notre-Dame (1163-1250 AD) in Paris is distinguished by the following:

  • A transept that is barely expressed in the elevation
  • A classically designed Front Elevation
  • Flying Buttresses along the facade

d. All the above