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506 results in the libraryPage 2 of 22506 results in the library · Fun facts · Page 2 of 22
Roughly a quarter of the Netherlands lies below sea level, and much of the province of Flevoland was seabed until the 20th century.
Author not specified in the imported source
Netherlands · Europe
External reference (site language): Demographics of the Netherlands ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The old centre of Amsterdam rests on millions of wooden piles driven into sand, including the 13,000 that hold up the Royal Palace.
Author not specified in the imported source
Amsterdam, Netherlands · Europe
External reference (site language): Amsterdam ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Brussels has painted more than fifty giant comic-strip murals across the city, turning blank walls into a free open-air museum of Belgian cartooning.
Author not specified in the imported source
Brussels, Belgium · Europe
External reference (site language): Culture of Brussels ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
In 2020 Luxembourg became the first country to make all public transport free nationwide, buses, trams and trains included.
Author not specified in the imported source
Luxembourg · Europe
External reference (site language): Transport in Luxembourg ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Thanks to overseas territories from Polynesia to the Caribbean, France spans twelve time zones, more than any other country.
Author not specified in the imported source
France · Europe
External reference (site language): Prefect (France) ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Beneath Paris lie some 300 kilometres of quarry tunnels, part of which hold the bones of about six million people moved from overflowing cemeteries.
Author not specified in the imported source
Paris, France · Europe
External reference (site language): Paris ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Surveyors remeasure Mont Blanc every two years because its ice cap gains and loses metres, so the official summit height keeps shifting.
Author not specified in the imported source
Chamonix, France · Europe
External reference (site language): France ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The long midday break is mostly a rural and small-town tradition now; most Spanish office workers take a short lunch and finish late instead.
Author not specified in the imported source
Spain · Europe
External reference (site language): Spain ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The Sagrada Familia has been under construction since 1882, funded almost entirely by donations and ticket sales rather than public money.
Author not specified in the imported source
Barcelona, Spain · Europe
External reference (site language): Barcelona ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Every August the town of Bunol throws about 150 tonnes of overripe tomatoes in La Tomatina, followed by a hose-down of the whole main street.
Author not specified in the imported source
Bunol, Spain · Europe
External reference (site language): Spain ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Bertrand in Lisbon's Chiado district has been selling books since 1732 and holds the record as the oldest bookshop still trading.
Author not specified in the imported source
Lisbon, Portugal · Europe
External reference (site language): Lisbon ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Port wine takes its name from the city, though the grapes grow upriver in the terraced Douro Valley, the world's oldest demarcated wine region.
Author not specified in the imported source
Porto, Portugal · Europe
External reference (site language): FC Porto ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Italy holds more UNESCO World Heritage sites than any other country, ranging from Roman ruins to entire mountain villages.
Author not specified in the imported source
Italy · Europe
External reference (site language): List of World Heritage Sites in Italy ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Around a million euros in coins is fished out of the Trevi Fountain each year and donated to charity.
Author not specified in the imported source
Rome, Italy · Europe
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Venice stands on millions of alder logs driven into the lagoon mud. Starved of oxygen, the wood petrified instead of rotting.
Author not specified in the imported source
Venice, Italy · Europe
External reference (site language): Venice Lido ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
After more than 250 years of excavation, roughly a third of Pompeii remains buried, deliberately left for future archaeologists with better tools.
Author not specified in the imported source
Pompeii, Italy · Europe
External reference (site language): Pompeii ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
San Marino claims a continuous republican government since the year 301, making it the world's oldest surviving sovereign republic.
Author not specified in the imported source
San Marino · Europe
External reference (site language): Flag of San Marino ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
At 0.49 square kilometres, the Vatican is smaller than many city parks, yet it has its own post office, pharmacy and railway station.
Author not specified in the imported source
Vatican City · Europe
External reference (site language): Vatican City ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Malta kept left-hand driving from its British era, one of only a handful of European countries to do so alongside Ireland and Cyprus.
Author not specified in the imported source
Malta · Europe
External reference (site language): Malta ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Greece has around 6,000 islands and islets, but only about 200 of them are inhabited.
Author not specified in the imported source
Greece · Europe
External reference (site language): Greece ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
Santorini's red, black and white beaches come from a single enormous eruption around 1600 BC that blew the island's centre into the sea.
Author not specified in the imported source
Santorini, Greece · Europe
External reference (site language): Santorini ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The marathon distance commemorates a messenger's run from the plain of Marathon to Athens, and the modern race was revived at the 1896 Olympics.
Author not specified in the imported source
Athens, Greece · Europe
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The Croatian Adriatic includes over 1,200 islands, islets and reefs, though fewer than fifty have permanent residents.
Author not specified in the imported source
Croatia · Europe
External reference (site language): Croatia ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The city walls of Dubrovnik run two kilometres around the old town and were never breached by an invading army in their long history.
Author not specified in the imported source
Dubrovnik, Croatia · Europe
External reference (site language): Dubrovnik ↗
Imported text; story or fact not individually verified. A reference may provide background only.
The missed ferry. The stranger who handed over a key. The meal that ran until midnight. If something happened to you on the road and you still think about it, send it - a few sentences is plenty, and we do the tidying up.
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