50 free Brussels trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Brussels trivia quiz covers a city that grew from a chapel on a marshy island into the capital of Belgium and the headquarters of the European Union and NATO. It starts with the essentials: what the name means, how many municipalities make up the region, which two languages are official, what the yellow iris on the flag refers to and where the river went. Then it works through the history: Charles V's abdication at Coudenberg, Louis XIV's bombardment that flattened the Grand-Place, the opera performance that started the 1830 revolution, the first passenger railway on the Continent and the mayor who buried the Senne. The second half is the Brussels people actually visit. Manneken Pis and his thousand costumes, his sister and the dog, the Atomium and Mini-Europe, the Galeries Saint-Hubert, the vast Palace of Justice, Horta's Art Nouveau, the Berlaymont, the comic-strip walls, the Ommegang and the flower carpet. It also covers the food, the football club with 34 titles, and the famous natives: Hergé, Audrey Hepburn, Jacques Brel and Magritte. For the country as a whole, see our separate Belgium quiz. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on Brussels and its landmarks, institutions and people, and each question links to the page that establishes it. Fifty questions, free, with an explanation after every answer.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How many municipalities make up the Brussels-Capital Region?
19
The City of Brussels, the national capital, is just one of them.
Q 02The name Brussels most likely comes from Old Dutch words meaning what?
Settlement in the marsh
Bruocsella combined 'bruoc', marsh, and 'sella', home; a bishop first recorded 'Brosella' in 695.
Q 03On which river did Brussels grow up?
Senne
Its course through the city was completely covered over between 1867 and 1871 because it had become a health hazard.
Q 04Which mayor had the city's river covered over between 1867 and 1871?
Jules Anspach
The river had become a serious health hazard; a central boulevard now bears his name.
Q 05Which two languages are official in the Brussels-Capital Region?
French and Dutch
Historically Dutch-speaking, the city shifted to French from the late 19th century; the region was created in 1989.
Q 06Which flower is the emblem of the Brussels Region and appears on its flag?
Yellow iris
It refers to the flowers that grew on the marshy original site of the city.
Q 07Which two bodies besides the EU have their headquarters or secretariat in Brussels?
NATO and the Benelux
The EU's judicial branch sits in Luxembourg and its parliament also meets in Strasbourg.
Q 08According to legend, who built a chapel on an island in the river around 580?
Gaugericus
The official founding is dated to about 979, when the relics of Saint Gudula were moved to that chapel.
Q 09Which Habsburg emperor abdicated his possessions at the Coudenberg Palace in 1555?
Charles V
He had been declared of age there in 1515; the palace, famous across Europe, burned down in 1731.
Q 10Which French king's bombardment of 1695 destroyed the Grand-Place and a third of the city?
Louis XIV
About 4,000 buildings were lost in the most destructive event in the city's history.
Q 11The Belgian Revolution of 1830 broke out after a performance of which opera?
La Muette de Portici
Auber's opera had been banned by King William I of the Netherlands for its inciting content.
Q 12Who became the first King of the Belgians in 1831?
Leopold I
He ordered the city walls demolished and many new buildings put up.
Q 13What distinction does the 1835 Molenbeek to Mechelen line hold?
First passenger railway outside England
The Brussels-Charleroi Canal had opened in 1832.
Q 21The Atomium's nine spheres show the unit cell of which crystal, magnified 165 billion times?
Iron
Each stainless-steel-clad sphere is 18 metres across.
Q 22Who designed the Atomium?
André Waterkeyn
The engineer worked with the architects André and Jean Polak.
Q 23At what scale are the monuments of Mini-Europe, at the foot of the Atomium, built?
1:25
About 80 cities and 350 buildings are represented, drawing 350,000 visitors a year.
Q 24Which EU institution is housed in the Berlaymont building?
Q 14Which battlefield south of the region ended French rule over Brussels in 1815?
Waterloo
The Congress of Vienna then put the Southern Netherlands under William I of Orange.
Q 15The Grand-Place has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since which year?
1998
It is often called one of the world's most beautiful squares; the Town Hall and the King's House face each other across it.
Q 16Which sculptor's bronze Manneken Pis was put in place in 1619?
Jérôme Duquesnoy the Elder
A statue on the spot is attested from the mid-15th century.
Q 17Roughly how many costumes are in Manneken Pis's wardrobe?
About a thousand
The little statue is regularly dressed for occasions and visiting delegations.
Q 18What is Jeanneke Pis?
A fountain of a squatting girl
The modern counterpart to Manneken Pis was commissioned by Denis-Adrien Debouvrie in 1985.
Q 19Het Zinneke, the 1999 sculpture completing the trio, shows what?
A dog urinating against a bollard
Tom Frantzen's bronze mutt is an example of the local folk humour known as zwanze.
Q 20For which event was the Atomium built?
The 1958 World's Fair
The 103-metre structure on the Heysel Plateau symbolised scientific progress and Belgian engineering.
The European Commission
Asbestos discovered in 1990 forced a long renovation.
Q 25Which architect's Art Nouveau town houses in Brussels are UNESCO-listed?
Victor Horta
His demolished Maison du Peuple became a symbol of the reckless redevelopment called Brusselisation.
Q 26What does the term 'Brusselisation' describe?
Careless demolition and redevelopment of a historic city
The 1965 loss of Horta's Maison du Peuple is the emblematic case.
Q 27Who designed the Palace of Justice, built between 1866 and 1883?
Joseph Poelaert
The eclectic Greco-Roman pile is Belgium's most important court building, seat of the Court of Cassation.
Q 28The Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert shopping arcade opened in which year?
1847
Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar's 213-metre passage took thirteen months to build.
Q 29The Cinquantenaire park was laid out for a national exhibition marking what?
Belgium's 50th anniversary in 1880
Its U-shaped complex was commissioned under the second king; the name means Park of the Fiftieth Anniversary.
Q 30The Brussels Metro's first proper metro lines opened in which year?
1976
The De Brouckère to Schuman section had run as premetro trams since 1969; it is Belgium's only rapid-transit system.