Q 01/05

Madrid lies on which river?

A) The Manzanares

B) The Ebro

C) The Tagus

D) The Guadalquivir

Answer · why

A) The Manzanares

The city sits about 660 metres up on the central Meseta, one of Europe's highest capitals.

Q 02/05

With an average altitude of about 650 metres, Madrid is the second-highest capital in Europe after which?

A) Bern in Switzerland

B) Andorra la Vella

C) Sofia in Bulgaria

D) Pristina in Kosovo

Answer · why

B) Andorra la Vella

The altitude and dry climate keep humidity low; the city ranges from 700 metres at Plaza de Castilla down to 570 by the river.

Q 03/05

Madrid is the second-largest city in the European Union after which?

A) Paris

B) Rome

C) Berlin

D) Barcelona

Answer · why

C) Berlin

Its metro area of about 6.8 million is the EU's second largest after Paris.

Q 04/05

Madrid began in the 9th century as a fortress built by which Umayyad emir of Córdoba?

A) Abd al-Rahman III

B) Almanzor

C) Al-Hakam II

D) Muhammad I

Answer · why

D) Muhammad I

It guarded Toledo against Christian raids; Alfonso VI seized the town in 1083, two years before Toledo itself.

Q 05/05

Which king made Madrid the permanent seat of his court in June 1561?

A) Charles V

B) Ferdinand II

C) Philip II

D) Philip IV

Answer · why

C) Philip II

The population more than quadrupled by 1598, though the court briefly left the city from 1601 to 1606.