Italian Geography and Nature

Geography And Nature

229 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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All 229 questions

  1. Complete the sentence about Palermo with the correct year: From 831 to ______ the city was under Arab rule in the Emirate of Sicily when the city became the capital of Sicily for the first time.
  2. Complete the sentence about Bologna with the correct year: Bologna is most famous for being the home to the oldest university in continuous operation, the University of Bologna, established in AD ____…
  3. Complete the sentence about Venice with the correct year: The city was the capital of the Republic of Venice for almost a millennium, from 810 to ______.
  4. Complete the sentence about Venice with the correct year: The sovereignty of Venice came to an end in ______, at the hands of Napoleon.
  5. Complete the sentence about Venice with the correct year: Subsequently, in ______, the city became part of the Kingdom of Italy.
  6. Complete the sentence about Verona with the correct year: In November ______, the city was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of its urban structure and architecture.
  7. Complete the sentence about Messina with the correct year: Rebuilding started in ______, largely in the Liberty style, and an orderly and regular network of wide and straight streets in a north-south…
  8. Complete the sentence about Padua with the correct year: Padua is home to one of the oldest universities in the world, the University of Padua, founded in ______, where Galileo Galilei and Nicolaus Co…
  9. Complete the sentence about Padua with the correct year: In ______, Galileo observed the moons of Jupiter through a homemade telescope in Padua, marking the second phase of the Copernican Revolution.
  10. Complete the sentence about Padua with the correct year: According to a tradition dated at least to the time of Virgil's Aeneid and to Livy's Ab Urbe Condita, Padua was founded around ______ BC by the…
  11. Complete the sentence about Padua with the correct year: Thus, when a large ancient stone sarcophagus was exhumed in the year ______, officials of the medieval commune declared the remains within to b…
  12. Complete the sentence about Prato with the correct year: In ______, in order to counter the expansionism of the Republic of Florence, Prato submitted voluntarily under the seigniory of Robert of Anjou…
  13. Complete the sentence about Modena with the correct year: The Cathedral of Modena, the Torre della Ghirlandina and Piazza Grande are a UNESCO World Heritage Site since ______.
  14. Complete the sentence about Reggio Calabria with the correct year: Reggio is the seat, since ______, of the Archeological Superintendence of Bruttium and Lucania.
  15. Complete the sentence about Livorno with the correct year: Livorna is mentioned for the first time in ______ as a small coastal village, a port and the remains of a Roman tower under the rule of Lucca…
  16. Complete the sentence about Livorno with the correct year: Porto Pisano was destroyed after the crushing defeat of the Pisan fleet in the Battle of Meloria in ______.
  17. Complete the sentence about Foggia with the correct year: Frederick II had a palace built in Foggia in ______, in which he often sojourned.
  18. Complete the sentence about Foggia with the correct year: In ______, King Alfonso V of Aragon built a Custom Palace to tax the local sheep farmers.
  19. Complete the sentence about Salerno with the correct year: From February to August ______, it served as the seat of the Italian government, hosting the Badoglio and Bonomi cabinets at the Salone dei M…
  20. Complete the sentence about Ferrara with the correct year: In 988 Ferrara was ceded by the Church to the House of Canossa, but at the death of Matilda of Tuscany in ______ it became a free commune.
  21. Complete the sentence about Sassari with the correct year: The oldest mention of the village is in an ______ document in the archive of the Monastery of St.
  22. Complete the sentence about Sassari with the correct year: After the assassination of Michele Zanche, the latter's last ruler in ______, Sassari became subject to the Republic of Pisa with a semi-inde…
  23. Complete the sentence about Sassari with the correct year: In ______ it was conquered by Brancaleone Doria and Marianus V of Arborea, of the independent Sardinian Giudicato of Arborea, of which it bec…
  24. Complete the sentence about Pescara with the correct year: In ______ Pescara was a fishing village enriched with monuments and churches.
  25. Complete the sentence about Pescara with the correct year: In ______ Roger of Sicily conquered the town, giving rise to a period in which it was destroyed by armies ravaging the Kingdom of Sicily.
  26. Complete the sentence about Trento with the correct year: The city often ranks highly among Italian cities for quality of life, standard of living, and business and job opportunities, being ranked 3rd…
  27. Complete the sentence about Vicenza with the correct year: The tyrannical Ezzelino III from Bassano drove the Guelphs out of Vicenza, and caused his brother, Alberico, to be elected podestà in ______.
  28. Complete the sentence about Vicenza with the correct year: The independent commune joined the Second Lombard League against Emperor Frederick II who sacked the city in ______, after which it was annex…
  29. Complete the sentence about Vicenza with the correct year: Vicenza came under the rule of the Republic of Venice in ______, and its subsequent history is that of Venice.
  30. Complete the sentence about Novara with the correct year: In the Battle of Novara in ______, Swiss mercenaries defending Novara for the Sforzas of Milan routed the French troops besieging the city.
  31. Complete the sentence about Novara with the correct year: In ______, Novara, which had long ago been promised by Filippo Maria Visconti to Amadeus VIII of Savoy, was occupied by Savoyard troops.
  32. Complete the sentence about Udine with the correct year: Udine was first attested in medieval Latin records as Udene in 983 and as Utinum around the year ______.
  33. Complete the sentence about Udine with the correct year: Udine remained under Venetian control until ______, being the second largest city in the state.
  34. Complete the sentence about Lecce with the correct year: From the fifteenth century, Lecce was one of the most important cities of southern Italy and, starting in ______, it was enriched with precious…
  35. Complete the sentence about Lecce with the correct year: In ______, during World War II fighter aircraft based in Lecce helped support isolated Italian garrisons in the Aegean Sea.
  36. Complete the sentence about Pisa with the correct year: In ______, Pisa was the protagonist of the first communal war in Italy, against Lucca.
  37. Complete the sentence about Siena with the correct year: The University of Siena, originally called Studium Senese, was founded in ______, making it one of the oldest universities in continuous operat…
  38. Complete the sentence about Assisi with the correct year: Francis, who founded the Order of Friars Minor in that town in ______, and of St.
  39. Complete the sentence about Pompeii with the correct year: By ______, most of Pompeii had been uncovered but left in decay; further major excavations were banned or limited to targeted, prioritised ar…
  40. Complete the sentence about Amalfi with the correct year: The town of Amalfi was the capital of the maritime republic known as the Duchy of Amalfi, an important trading power in the Mediterranean betw…
  41. Complete the sentence about Amalfi with the correct year: In ______, the republic fell to the Norman countship of Apulia, but was granted many rights.
  42. Complete the sentence about Positano with the correct year: The Villa di Positano was described for the first time by Karl Weber in ______, who then oversaw the excavations in Herculaneum and Pompeii.
  43. Complete the sentence about Capri with the correct year: In ______, King Frederick IV of Naples established administrative parity between the settlements of Capri and Anacapri.
  44. Complete the sentence about Ischia with the correct year: The ceramic Euboean artifact inscribed with a reference to "Nestor's Cup" was discovered in a grave on the island in ______.
  45. Complete the sentence about Portofino with the correct year: In ______, together with the neighbouring Santa Margherita Ligure, it was included in Rapallo's commune jurisdiction.
  46. Complete the sentence about Portofino with the correct year: In ______, when Charles VI of France was Doge of Genoa, he sold Portofino to the Republic of Florence.
  47. Complete the sentence about Como with the correct year: The first explicit written mention of the Commune of Como dates back to ______.
  48. Complete the sentence about Mount Etna with the correct year: In June ______, it was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
  49. Complete the sentence about Apennine Mountains with the correct year: Since ______, a series of tunnels have been constructed to conduct "the Bologna-Florence rail line", which is neither a single lin…
  50. Complete the sentence about Dolomites with the correct year: On 26 June ______, the Dolomites were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  51. Complete the sentence about Dolomites with the correct year: In ______ Irishman John Ball was the first known person to climb Monte Pelmo.
  52. Complete the sentence about Dolomites with the correct year: Around ______ the Agordin mountaineer Simone de Silvestro was the first person to stand on the Civetta.
  53. Complete the sentence about Dolomites with the correct year: Free climbing has been a tradition in the Dolomites since ______, when 17-year-old Georg Winkler soloed the first ascent of the pinnacle of…
  54. Complete the sentence about Mont Blanc with the correct year: The first systematic account of the minerals of the Mont Blanc area was published in ______ by Venance Payot.
  55. Complete the sentence about Mont Blanc with the correct year: The Mont Blanc was the highest mountain of the Frankish Empire under Charlemagne and the highest mountain of the Holy Roman Empire until _…
  56. Complete the sentence about Mont Blanc with the correct year: Pierre Martel's ______ map and sketch of the Chamonix valley contains what is considered the first printed appearance of the name "Mont Bl…
  57. Complete the sentence about Mont Blanc with the correct year: In ______, Swiss naturalist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure began to go to Chamonix to observe Mont Blanc.
  58. Complete the sentence about Monte Rosa with the correct year: The great east wall was first climbed in ______, from Macugnaga by Richard Pendlebury with his brother, W.
  59. Complete the sentence about Monte Rosa with the correct year: On old maps as late as ______, the mountain was named Monte Bosa and even Monte Biosa by the inhabitants of Val Sesia.
  60. Complete the sentence about Gran Paradiso with the correct year: The latter is named after Victor Emmanuel II of Italy who created the Gran Paradiso royal reserve in ______, presently the site of the…
  61. Complete the sentence about Gran Sasso with the correct year: Hotel Campo Imperatore in Gran Sasso was Benito Mussolini's prison until his freeing in September ______ by Nazi commandos in the Gran Sas…
  62. Complete the sentence about Po with the correct year: The Fiume Po currently flowing to the north of Ferrara is the result of a diversion at Ficarolo in ______ made in the hope of relieving flooding i…
  63. Complete the sentence about Arno with the correct year: The flood on November 4, ______ collapsed the embankment in Florence, killing at least 41 people and damaging or destroying millions of works of…
  64. Complete the sentence about Adige with the correct year: The Adige was mentioned in the "Lied der Deutschen" of ______ as the southern border of the German language area.
  65. Complete the sentence about Adige with the correct year: As of ______ 62% of Salorno speaks Italian and 37% speaks German.
  66. Complete the sentence about Adige with the correct year: In ______ Germany adopted the song as its national anthem, although by that time Italy had taken control of all of the Adige.
  67. Complete the sentence about Sicily with the correct year: In ______, the kingdom unified with the Kingdom of Naples to form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
  68. Complete the sentence about Sicily with the correct year: Following the Expedition of the Thousand, an invasion led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, and a subsequent plebiscite, the island became part of the ne…
  69. Complete the sentence with the correct year: All these settlements were destroyed by new Italic invasions in ______ BC.
  70. Complete the sentence about Lampedusa with the correct year: In ______, Don García de Toledo made a brief stop at Lampedusa while leading a relief force to break the Great Siege of Malta.
  71. Complete the sentence about Lampedusa with the correct year: In ______, the island was given to Ferdinand Tomasi of Palermo, who acquired the title of Prince of Lampedusa from King Charles II of Spain…
  72. Complete the sentence about Elba with the correct year: After the battle of Meloria, the Republic of Genoa took possession of Elba, but it was regained by Pisa in ______.
  73. Complete the sentence about Elba with the correct year: The island was retained for two centuries by the Appiani family, Lords of Piombino, when they sold Pisa to the house of Visconti of Milan in ___…
  74. Complete the sentence about Elba with the correct year: In ______, the Barbary pirates from North Africa devastated Elba and the coasts of Tuscany.
  75. Complete the sentence about Elba with the correct year: In ______, Philip II of Spain captured Porto Longone and had two fortresses built there.
  76. Complete the sentence about Ionian Sea with the correct year: The western section of the Ionian Sea has been controlled by Italy since ______.
  77. Complete the sentence about Strait of Messina with the correct year: In ______, under Prime Minister Romano Prodi the project was cancelled.
  78. Complete the sentence about Strait of Messina with the correct year: In ______, a 220 kV overhead power line was built across the Strait of Messina.
  79. Complete the sentence about Veneto with the correct year: Since ______, the Statute of Veneto has referred to the region's citizens as "the Venetian people".
  80. Complete the sentence about Piedmont with the correct year: In ______, the Duke of Savoy became King of Sardinia, founding what evolved into the Kingdom of Sardinia and increasing Turin's importance a…
  81. Complete the sentence about Piedmont with the correct year: The Republic of Alba was created in ______ as a French client republic in Piedmont.
  82. Complete the sentence about Piedmont with the correct year: In June ______, a third client republic, the Subalpine Republic, was established in Piedmont.
  83. Complete the sentence about Marche with the correct year: After Napoleon's defeat, Marche returned to Papal rule until 4 November ______, when it was annexed to the unified Kingdom of Italy by a plebi…
  84. Complete the sentence about Marche with the correct year: The ______ Rimini earthquakes damaged or destroyed several buildings in Pesaro, Fano, and its hinterlands.
  85. Complete the sentence about Molise with the correct year: The region was born in ______ from the division with Abruzzo, with which it formed the region of Abruzzi e Molise.
  86. Complete the sentence about Molise with the correct year: In ______ Rudolf of Moulins descendend in southern Italy alongside the Hauteville family, conquering what then became the County of Bojano.
  87. Complete the sentence about Aosta Valley with the correct year: As part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, it became part of the Kingdom of Italy in ______ and was incorporated into the province of Turin.
  88. Complete the sentence about Aosta Valley with the correct year: In ______, the Fascist government established the province of Aosta.
  89. Complete the sentence with the correct year: From the 9th century until ______, the region was part of the Holy Roman Empire.
  90. Complete the sentence about Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol with the correct year: The new rulers provoked a popular rebellion in ______, led by Andreas Hofer, a landlord from St.
  91. Complete the sentence with the correct year: After Napoleon's defeat in ______, the region returned to Austria.
  92. Complete the sentence about Colosseum with the correct year: By the year ______ the Latin name "Colosseum" had been coined to refer to the amphitheatre from the nearby "Colossus Solis".
  93. Complete the sentence about Trevi Fountain with the correct year: The Trevi Fountain was finished in ______ by Pannini, who substituted the present allegories for planned sculptures of Agrippa and Tri…
  94. Complete the sentence about Spanish Steps with the correct year: French diplomat to the Holy See Étienne Gueffier died in ______, leaving part of his fortune for the construction of the stairs.
  95. Complete the sentence about Spanish Steps with the correct year: A competition held in ______ was won by Francesco de Sanctis, though Alessandro Specchi was long thought to have produced the winning e…
  96. Complete the sentence about Spanish Steps with the correct year: The elder Bernini had been the pope's architect for the Acqua Vergine, since ______.
  97. Complete the sentence about Vatican Museums with the correct year: Benedict XIV founded the Museum Christianum, and some of the Vatican collections formed the Lateran Museum, which Pius IX founded by…
  98. Complete the sentence with the correct year: Pisano left Pisa in ______ for Monreale, Sicily, only to return and die in his home town.
  99. Complete the sentence about Florence Cathedral with the correct year: The city council of Florence approved Arnolfo di Cambio's design for the new church in ______.
  100. Complete the sentence about Florence Cathedral with the correct year: The first stone was laid on 9 September ______, by Cardinal Valeriana, the first papal legate ever sent to Florence.

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