Fun Facts About Famous European Landmarks
Break out the selfie stick: these famous landmarks make for prime photo opportunities. They also make for some interesting stories. Read on for some little-known facts about some well-known spots.
Austria
Vienna Opera House
You can watch the opera for free! During the summer months, the shows are projected onto a big screen outside the Opera House for anyone to enjoy. There are some seats, but they fill up quickly, so you may have to stand. The performance is subtitled in German.
Czech Republic
Prague Castle
The Prague Castle is the largest castle complex in the world, and contains architecture spanning from Gothic to Renaissance eras. It takes up a cheeky 750,000 square feet (!)—and the Bohemian Crown Jewels are hidden deep inside.
Kutná Hora
This Czech town is home to the Sedlec Abbey, where the ossuary (aka room for the bones of dead people) is decorated with the bones of anywhere from 40,000 to 70,000 humans. That's...a lot.
England
Tower of London
At least six ravens are kept at the tower at all times, under the superstition that the tower will crumble and harm will befall the nation if they leave. They’re also super friendly and adorable. All pretty interesting for a building that's served as both a castle and a prison.
Buckingham Palace
Before the palace was built on the site, James I planted a mulberry garden on the land to raise silkworms. Now it just raises royals.
Big Ben
Big Ben is leaning nine inches to the northwest.
Tate Modern
Once the Bankside Power Station, the building was transformed into the Tate Modern museum, which is free to the public.
France
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is covered with over 50 miles of electric cables, and consumes as much electricity as a small village — about 22 megawatts a day.
Arc de Triomphe
The Arc de Triomphe was commissioned by Napoleon, but he never lived to see it completed. It honors those who died for France in the Napoleonic Wars and the French Revolution, and underneath it is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I.
The Louvre
If you looked at all 35,000 works of art in the Louvre for 60 seconds, it would take you 64 days to see them all.
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles has a total of 2,153 windows, 1,200 fireplaces, 700 rooms and over 67 staircases. Can you spot them all?
Musée d’Orsay
Originally built as a train station, the Musée d’Orsay now houses the largest collection of impressionist art in the world.
Germany
Neuschwanstein
Once upon a dream, Neuschwanstein was the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Park. A not so fun fact? No photography is allowed inside.
Rathaus Schöneberg
President John F. Kennedy delivered his famous “Ich bin ein Berliner” from the steps of Rathaus Schöneberg. Oddly enough, the building is just the city hall for one of the many boroughs that make up Berlin.
Checkpoint Charlie
A man once escaped East Germany by staging a photo shoot at Checkpoint Charlie. The former passage between East and West Berlin has featured in several spy movies.
Hofbräuhaus
600,000 barrels of Hofbräuhaus beer were used to persuade the king of Sweden to not destroy Munich (home the the brewery) in 1632. Legend says the attached note read: “We cool bro?”
Greece
Santorini’s Red Beach
Because it is situated in the caldera of an erupted volcano, Santorini is one of the few places with white, black and red sand beaches. The red sand is actually pulverized volcanic rock.
Acropolis
The iconic white pillars of the Parthenon were once multi-colored.
National Archeological Museum of Athens
The museum contains artifacts dating back to 6800 BC, during the neolithic era. AKA “The New Stone Age”.
The Netherlands
Jordaan (Amsterdam)
There are 20,000 residents densely populating the Jordaan neighborhood, but the count used to be five times as many.
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum houses one million objects, but only 8,000 are on display at one time.
Heineken Brewery
Heineken was the first European beer imported to the United States following the end of the Prohibition. Thanks, Holland!
Anne Frank House
The “Secret Annex” remained hidden as it was surrounded on all sides by other buildings, all of which have since been removed.
Ireland
Cliffs of Moher
The Cliffs of Moher soar anywhere from 390 to 702 feet high above the water.
Blarney Castle
“Blarney” means persuasive elegance. If you kiss the Blarney Stone, it is said that you are given “the gift of gab”.
Dun Aengus
It is unknown whether the prehistoric cliff fort was built in a half-circle, or if half of the circle fort fell into the sea.
Guinness Storehouse
The hollow interior of the Storehouse is designed to also be the world’s largest pint glass.
Italy
Colosseum
Occasionally, the Colosseum was flooded to perform miniature sea battles in the arena.
Galleria dell’Accademia
The Galleria dell’Accademia houses Michelangelo’s David, which stands 17 feet tall and weighs over six tons.
Cinque Terre
Cats are the local animal at Cinque Terre, and they can often be found lounging about the five villages.
Pompeii
The shapes of inhabitants just before their death are still visible due to the casting they left behind.
Capri’s Blue Grotto
Entrance to the Blue Grotto sea cave can only happen at low tide, when a meter-high opening is available for a rowboat to pass through.
Poland
Schindler’s Factory
Using his factory for employment, Oskar Schindler saved the lives of around 1,200 Jews during WWII.
Wieliczka Salt Mine
There’s a full-size ballroom in this underground city, complete with chandeliers and ornate facades.
Scotland
Edinburgh Castle
The Edinburgh Castle is built atop an extinct volcano, where humans have lived for thousands of years.
Royal Mile
The Royal Mile is actually more than a mile by 107 yards.
Edinburgh Vaults
The space under the bridges created vaults, originally intended for storage, that were soon occupied by death and debauchery.
Spain
Sagrada Familia
The Sagrada Familia has been under construction since 1882. When it is completed, it will have taken significantly longer to build than the Egyptian Pyramids.
Park Güell
The bench that winds around Park Güell is so comfortable because Gaudí had a workman drop his pants and sit in a plaster. His anatomical curves were recorded to create the ergonomic design.
Plaza de Toros
Plaza de Toros Las Ventas is the third-largest bullring in the world.
Royal Palace (Madrid)
The Royal Palace has almost 1.5 million square feet of space, making it the largest palace in Europe.
Chris Abell is the Associate Director, Content at EF Ultimate Break. Prior to his time at Ultimate Break, Chris spent years at Travel + Leisure as a writer and editor, most recently as the Associate Editorial Director, Commerce. Chris has also been a senior commerce editor at TripSavvy, where he edited the site’s product review articles and has been published in The Points Guy, Thrillist, Departures, and more.
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