Portugal trivia: 46 questions and answers

India. Vasco da Gama reached India, landing near Calicut on 20 May 1498. Brazil was reached by Cabral in 1500, and the Portuguese first reached Japan in the 1540s.

Pedro Álvares Cabral. Pedro Álvares Cabral's fleet, on its way to India, reached Brazil on 22 April 1500. Dias rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488, da Gama reached India in 1498 and Magellan's voyage began in 1519.

An earthquake. An earthquake struck on All Saints' Day 1755. It was followed by a tsunami and fires, and tens of thousands of people died.

1974. The Carnation Revolution took place on 25 April 1974. In 1910 the monarchy ended, in 1968 Salazar stopped being prime minister but the regime went on, and in 1986 Portugal joined the European Community.

True. True. The Anglo-Portuguese Alliance, now between Portugal and the United Kingdom, is the oldest alliance in the world still in force.

False. False. The royal family and about 10,000 courtiers sailed to Brazil, and from 1808 to 1821 Rio de Janeiro was the capital of the Portuguese empire.

The Jerónimos Monastery. The monks of the Jerónimos Monastery in Belém made the first tarts. The Convent of Christ is in Tomar, Batalha is in central Portugal and Santa Cruz is in Coimbra, so none of them is in Lisbon.

Dried salted cod. Bacalhau is dried salted cod. The Portuguese say there are 365 ways to cook it, one for every day of the year.

Porto. The francesinha comes from Porto, where it was first served in 1953.

The Douro. Port is made from grapes of the Douro Valley in northern Portugal, and is aged in Vila Nova de Gaia, across the river from Porto.

Tripe eaters. Tripeiros means tripe eaters. Legend says Porto gave its good meat to the fleet sailing to Ceuta in 1415 and kept only the tripe, which it still cooks as tripas à moda do Porto.

False. False. Here 'verde' means young: the wine is released a few months after the harvest. It can be white, red or rosé.

True. True. It is made from raw sheep's milk, curdled with thistle flowers instead of rennet.

Coimbra. Coimbra was the capital from 1131 until 1255, when Lisbon took over.

Aveiro. Aveiro, on a coastal lagoon, is called the Venice of Portugal for its canals and colourful moliceiro boats.

False. False. Évora is inland, in the Alentejo, and is one of the hottest cities in Portugal in summer.

Vasco da Gama. Vasco da Gama's tomb is in the Jerónimos Monastery, near that of the poet Luís de Camões. Magellan died in the Philippines, Columbus sailed for Spain, and Cabral is buried in Santarém.

A rhinoceros. A rhinoceros is carved on the tower, probably the one King Manuel I sent to the Pope in 1515.

Mainland Europe. Cabo da Roca is the westernmost point of mainland Europe, with cliffs more than 100 metres high above the Atlantic.

Gustave Eiffel. Its designer, Théophile Seyrig, had been a partner of Gustave Eiffel. The bridge opened in 1886.

Water. The funicular works with water: a water tank on the car going down pulls the other car up. It was the first funicular built in the Iberian Peninsula.

True. True. It was used as a butcher's shop from the 1300s until 1836, which helped save its columns from being pulled down.

False. False. The palace was built from 1842 to 1854 for King Ferdinand II, on the site of an old monastery.

Cork. Portugal produces about half of the world's cork, stripped from the bark of cork oaks about every nine years.

Lisbon. Livraria Bertrand is in the Chiado district of Lisbon. Porto's famous Livraria Lello opened much later.

Giant waves ridden by surfers. Nazaré is famous for giant waves ridden by surfers, pushed up by a deep underwater canyon. A wave of about 26 metres surfed there in 2020 is, as of 2026, the Guinness record.

Green beans fried in batter. Peixinhos da horta, 'little fish from the garden', are green beans fried in batter. Portuguese missionaries brought the idea to Japan in the 1500s.

Tea. Catherine of Braganza is credited with popularising tea drinking at the English court.

Luís de Camões. 10 June is the anniversary of the death of Luís de Camões in 1580, the author of the epic poem 'The Lusiads'.

True. True. The mother's surname usually comes first and the father's last, the opposite of the traditional Spanish order.

False. False. Fado comes from the Latin 'fatum', meaning fate. UNESCO added fado to its intangible heritage list in 2011.

True. True. It was named after the dictator Salazar and renamed after the revolution of 25 April 1974.

A train. A comboio is a train. A bus is an autocarro.

The toilet. Casa de banho is the toilet or bathroom. Ask 'Onde é a casa de banho?'

Pão. Pão is bread. Peixe is fish, vinho is wine and praia is beach.

True. True. The word means 'obliged', so it agrees with the person who is speaking.

False. False. An autocarro is a bus. Brazilians call a bus an ônibus.

A conta, por favor. A conta, por favor means the bill, please.

I don't understand. Não percebo means I don't understand, the usual way to say it in Portugal.

When asking to get past someone. Com licença is said when asking to get past someone, for example on a crowded bus.

True. True. Bom dia is used before noon, boa tarde in the afternoon and boa noite in the evening.

False. False. Starters you did not order and did not touch cannot be charged. If you eat them, you pay for them.

True. True. Restaurants must have tap water and clean reusable glasses available for their customers, free of charge.

About 5 to 10 percent. Service is included, but leaving about 5 to 10 percent for good service is customary.

112. 112 is the emergency number in Portugal, as in the rest of the European Union.

From about 7:30 to 10:30 pm. Restaurants usually serve dinner from about 7:30 to 10:30 pm, and lunch from noon to about 2:30 or 3 pm.