From Zurich through Basle, or Bale, we come to Strasburg, one of the most interesting cities in Europe.
In this old city of Strasburg, founded by the Romans hundreds of years ago, we get a better idea of old architecture than in any city yet visited. Its narrow, crooked streets, with high, many-storied roofs, tell the story of its age in unmistakable language. The unique wood carving that embellishes the façades of so many of the old wooden buildings look strange and out of place in this matter-of-fact age, but in years gone by they gave to Strasburg the name of “the most beautiful city.”
Approaching the city we pass a number of strong fortifications, which were in active use during the Franco-Prussian war. Strasburg, two miles from the Rhine, has always been a strategical point, and played a very important part in the struggle of 1870-71, the siege, which lasted from the thirteenth of August till the twenty-seventh of September, being one of the marked episodes of the war.
Once in the city the tourist turns first to the cathedral, which stands nearly in the center of the city. Unfortunately for the general effect, it is located in a neighborhood of narrow streets and ugly high-roofed houses that entirely surround the massive pile, and the first impression is rather disappointing. But this feeling soon wears off. There is a certain majesty about the noble building that compels admiration, while the cloud-cleaving spire, wondrously graceful, is a marvel of strength and grace. It is a fascinating structure. The more one studies its beautiful proportions, and the wonderful decorations which so profusely embellish it, the more he is struck with wonder at the genius of the architect and the skill of the patient builders.
The present cathedral was begun some time during the twelfth century, on the site of one destroyed by fire, said to have been built during the sixth century. Tradition says that the site of the present cathedral has been devoted to worship from the remotest times; that there was a sacred wood in the midst of which the Celts built their Druidical Dolmen. After the Romans conquered Gaul, they founded a fortified town, where Strasburg now stands, and in place of the Dolmen they dedicated a temple to Hercules and Mars. Old chronicles record that in the fourth century St. Armand built a church on the ruins of an old Roman temple, the previous existence of which is authenticated by the finding of several brass statues of Hercules and Mars, during the excavations for the foundations of the first cathedral.
THE CATHEDRAL.
From the beginning of the work on the present cathedral
