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Cities by Founding Story

Try to name each city based on a story or myth about how it was founded.
This quiz does NOT suggest that these are the only founding stories, that they have official status, or that they are true
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Quizmaster
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Last updated: September 21, 2021
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First submittedSeptember 21, 2021
Times taken40,731
Average score65.0%
Rating4.69
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Date
Story
City
753 BC
After killing his brother Remus, Romulus founds a city on the Palatine Hill
Rome
?
Poseidon and Athena vie to become the patron god of a new city.
Athena wins by giving the city an olive tree.
Athens
1626
Dutch settlers purchase an island from Native Americans for 60 guilders
worth of goods (about $900 today)
New York City
667 BC
Fulfilling a prophecy of the oracle at Delphi, Byzas founds a Greek
colony on the Golden Horn
Istanbul
c. 600 BC
Greek colonists found a city on the Italian peninsula, calling it
Neápolis, or "new city"
Naples
1847
Arriving near a lake, Brigham Young says "this is the right place"
Salt Lake City
1703
Peter the Great founds a new capital on the Baltic Sea
Saint Petersburg
1886
Named in honor of a British sea captain after the site was chosen as
the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway
Vancouver
?
Sailing through the Pillars of Hercules, Ulysses founds this city on the
Western edge of the known world
Lisbon
1122 BC
Founded by the legendary god-king Dangun
Pyongyang
1847
Built on the site of a railroad crossing connecting Savannah and Chattanooga
Atlanta
1652
Dutch spice traders establish a way-station on the southern tip of Africa
Cape Town
c. 60 AD
Roman settlers build a spa complex which they name "Aquae Sulis"
in honor of a local goddess
Bath
1873
Formed by the merger of Pest, Buda, and Óbuda
Budapest
762
Al-Mansur founds a capital city for the Abbasid Caliphate on the Tigris River
Baghdad
814 BC
Queen Dido asks Berbers for refuge. They grant her as much land as can
be encircled by an oxhide cut into strips.
Carthage
1521
Hernán Cortés founds a new city atop the existing city of Tenochtitlan
Mexico City
1819
Stamford Raffles establishes a British trading post after reaching an
agreement with the Sultan of Johor
Singapore
331 BC
Passing through Egypt, a Greek conqueror founds one of many
cities that bear his name
Alexandria
421
Refugees from nearby cities such as Padua and Treviso flee barbarian
invasions, finding safety in a lagoon
Venice
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38 Comments
AlejandroAP
+7
Level 86
Sep 22, 2021
Very interesting quiz! Congratulations!
cathlete
+3
Level 78
Sep 22, 2021
Nice quiz. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't have enough time to even read all of the questions.
DonTheLamplighter
+1
Level 86
Sep 23, 2021
Agreed. Another minute on this one would've made it possible for me to at least read each question.
Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Sep 28, 2021
Added two minutes
kogatora
+11
Level 95
Sep 22, 2021
For anyone wondering, Óbuda means Old Buda
Jakesto
+2
Level 78
Sep 22, 2021
Great quiz. Would love a sequel
benjNYC
+20
Level 71
Sep 23, 2021
how about accepting Tunis for Carthage? I was assuming that we were going with modern names after I got Istanbul
AlexThirkell
+1
Level 74
Sep 27, 2021
I put Tunis then assumed it must be another similar story somewhere else. Carthage is a suburb of Tunis now, and their history has been one and the same for a very long time.

I get that they were founded differently though, so even though it might be confusing to some (i.e. me) it's probably best left as it is.

chailattee
+5
Level 64
Oct 15, 2021
I agree, either change it (or at least accept) Tunis or change them to New Amsterdam, Byzantium, etc.
JackintheBox
+8
Level 82
Sep 23, 2021
I didn't get Carthage because I thought only modern cities were included.
kalbahamut
+2
Level 80
Oct 15, 2021
Carthage still exists apart from Tunis.
MaxStickies
+1
Level 80
Sep 23, 2021
Interesting quiz.
kalbahamut
+8
Level 80
Sep 23, 2021
Surprised Jerusalem didn't make the cut. And the founding myth for Tenochitlan is more interesting than the one for Mexico City.
beorming
+3
Level 87
Oct 15, 2021
Stamford Raffles. That is all.
jmellor13
+16
Level 68
Oct 15, 2021
Preeeetty sure Pyongyang was founded by Kim Jong-un. As were London, Paris, Toronto, and Timbuktu.
koreanstudent
+1
Level 73
May 22, 2025
As a korean, I learned that Pyongyang was built at least before BC 108, even if we exclude legends.
WelshWizard
+15
Level 88
Oct 15, 2021
The Berber's didn't quite intend for it to be "as much land as can be encircled by an oxhide cut into strips" – they tried to short-change her by just saying it was the amount of land that could be covered by an oxhide, i.e. not very much. Dido then outsmarted them by cutting it into fine strips, and therefore holding them to their word, claimed enough land to build a new city*.

*It's obviously all nonsense, but that's how the story goes.

GlobalCitizen
+4
Level 65
Oct 15, 2021
Please accept Tunis for Carthage, they share the same urban area. Just like Istanbul is accepted but in the past this was Byzantium and Constantinople.
FolgoreCZ
+7
Level 59
Oct 18, 2021
It's not the same. Istanbul, Constantinople and Byzantium are the same city, just renamed. Tunis and Carthage are two different cities, but one later grew to incorporate the other. It would be like saying that Jersey or Newark were founded by the Dutch settlers.
RobNobody
+3
Level 80
Jan 17, 2025
I understand what you're going for in this comment, but Jersey City was in fact founded by Dutch colonists expanding out from New Amsterdam.
itsthebarg
+5
Level 68
Oct 15, 2021
You should replace the Mexico City question with the eagle and snake story regarding the founding of Tenochtitlan. Much more interesting and more difficult.
bxtterflyfx
+3
Level 74
Oct 15, 2021
Damn, I thought Dangun sounded Korean, but never would've thought to guess Pyongyang for some reason
Sammy87
+1
Level 61
Oct 16, 2021
Why is there a question mark under Vancouver?
FolgoreCZ
+3
Level 59
Oct 18, 2021
Because it is not known when Lisbon was founded. It's part of the next question.
jennraven
+1
Level 67
Oct 16, 2021
I kept trying Manhattan for NYC 🤦‍♀️
blizzrd33
+1
Level 80
Feb 14, 2023
Nice caveat.
stalintime
+2
Level 79
Jun 27, 2023
part two now!
Elan
+2
Level 66
Jun 27, 2023
Awesome quiz can't wait for a part two!

Just one note, the Strait of Gibraltar was called the Pillars of Heracles, not Hercules.

SpartanLlama
+1
Level 77
Jun 27, 2023
Just missed Pyongyang
dogmeat
+1
Level 69
Jun 27, 2023
apart from Pyongyang very easy
DwigtSchrute
+6
Level 53
Jun 28, 2023
You have all these nice stories and myths and then you have Chattanooga and Savannah...
ikeovs
+1
Level 57
Jun 30, 2023
Tenochtitlan foundation is less colonialist and far more mystical and interesting than Hernán Cortés just "founding" an already existing place
GoblinOfCooz
+6
Level 79
Oct 12, 2023
It's a good thing this website isn't more popular or else you referring to Alexander the Great as a Greek would start a riot in Skopje
KaMa3
+1
Level 30
Oct 25, 2024
I should've known Salt Lake City, I watched BobbyBroccolli video about UoU literally yesterday
Nestormakhno
+1
Level 77
Jan 17, 2025
I actually cannot believe Pyongyang was founded so long ago, I had it in my head it was built during the second world war for some reason
Neodymium
+1
Level 63
Jan 17, 2025
Tenochtitlan story would be better instead
Melikesanmarino
+1
Level 59
Apr 18, 2025
I refuse to believe that 54% of people knew Bath. I didn't even know 54% of people on Jetpunk knew the city of Bath even existed... How is this basically the same percentage as one of the most well known cities in Italy, Venice?!
Neodymium
+1
Level 63
Jul 22, 2025
Could these be placed in chronological order?
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