Mini Monaco Trivia Quiz

Answer: Single house

A Phocaean Greek colony near Monaco's present location was known as "Monoikos". Its name comes from two Greek words, "monos" which means one or solo, and "oikos" which means house. However, archaeological evidence has shown that Monaco has been inhabited for over 300,000 years - certainly a very long time.

The first permanent settlement of the area was by tribes from Italy called Ligures.

Answer: Monégasque

Monégasque is a dialect of Ligurian, which is a Romance language (i.e. - descended from Latin). In its own language it is known as "Munegascu", and to me it sounds similar to Romanian. It is apparently similar to another Ligurian dialect spoken in nearby Genoa in Italy; this is because of the Ligures ancestry to some of the inhabitants.

Despite this, French is the only official language of Monaco.

Answer: Fontvieille

Fontvieille was reclaimed in the late 1960s and the early 1970s, expanding Monaco's area by nearly 20%. This reclamation of Fontvieille was one of the main reasons that Prince Rainier II was nicknamed the 'Builder Prince'. Fontvieille houses a heliport which ferries people back and forth to Nice in France, and also houses Stade Louis II where AS Monaco, a football team in the French league, plays their home games.

Answer: Kingdom of Sardinia

In the Franco-Monegasque Treaty, Monaco was recognised as an independent nation. Prior to that, it was decided by the Congress of Vienna (a precursor to the League of Nations) that Monaco would be a protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In that time, Italian was the official language spoken in Monaco.

In the Napoleonic Era, Monaco was a part of France and the principality dissolved. However, in 1861, military responsibility was placed on the French Republic to protect Monaco against all aggressors.

Answer: False

Despite popular belief, neither Monte Carlo nor Monaco-Ville is the capital of Monaco! Monaco is all one municipality, thus it is its own capital. It is divided into several administrative districts, two of which are Monaco-Ville and Monte Carlo, but they're both on the order of 'quartiers', or neighbourhoods, of the city itself.

Answer: The Rock

The Rock, or Le Rocher, of Monaco overlooks the harbour and port, and a citadel has existed on it since the Middle Ages. On the Rock is where the Sovereign Prince's palace is located, and the heart of the old town of Monaco. An ancestor of the ruling family of Monaco, the Grimaldis, was able to capture the citadel on the Rock by guile. Disguised as a monk, François Grimaldi gained entrance to the citadel with a sword under his robes. From the inside, he was able to open the gates for his men and capture the citadel, making it the first conquest for the Grimaldi family and their first holding in Monaco.

Answer: Alps

Monaco is nestled in between where the Alps drop down and the Mediterranean Sea begins. The Moneghetti ward is known for its steep streets and vertical layout of properties as it is located at the bottom of the Alps and right on the French border. Adjacent to it is the French village of Beausoleil.

Answer: Monte Carlo

The Monte Carlo Grand Casino is world-renowned and hosts the final for the European Poker tournament yearly. The casino also has the distinction of being the inspiration for a numerical computation method - the Monte Carlo method (which was developed nowhere near Monaco; but in Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA actually).

The casino is located in the heart of the Monte Carlo ward of the Monte Carlo quartier (neighbourhood). It means "Mount Charles" and was named for a reigning prince, Prince Charles III of Monaco.

Answer: Hercules

According to Greek historians Diodorus Siculus and Strabo, Hercules passed through the settlement built on The Rock during his travels from task to task. The modern larger port of Monaco, Port Hercule, was deepened and widened in the 1970s to accommodate larger tonnage of cruise ships. It was also used in the filming of a scene in the 1995 film in the James Bond series "GoldenEye".

Answer: Roquebrune

Roquebrune, nowadays Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, was acquired by the Grimaldis in 1355. The township of Menton was acquired some years prior in 1346. These holdings were under the control of the Principality of Monaco until French Emperor Napoleon seized them and the entire area came under French rule.

When the emperor was deposed, the Principality was restored. However, some years later Roquebrune and Menton declared independence. After some unrest, the Prince of Monaco decided to give up the territory to France, reducing Monaco to the borders it has today.