From Cullen and Ach he went to Geneva, a city in Savoy, lying near Switzerland; it is a town of great traffic, the lord thereof is a bishop, whose wine-cellar Faustus and his spirit visited for the love of his good wine.
From thence he went to Strasburg, where he beheld the fairest temple that ever he had seen in his life before, for on every side thereof he might see through, even from the covering of the minster to the top of the pinnacle, and it is named one of the wonders of the world; wherefore, he demanded why it is called Strasburg? His spirit answered, "Because it hath so many highways common to it on every side, for Stros in Dutch is a Highway, and hereof came the name: yea," said Mephistophiles, "the church that thou so wonderest at, hath more revenues belonging to it than the twelve dukes of Silesia are worth, for there pertain unto this church fifty-five towns, and four hundred and sixty-three villages, besides many houses in the town."
From thence went Faustus to Basil, in Switzerland, where the river of Rhine runneth through the town, parting the same as the river of Thames doth London: in the town of Basil he saw many rich monuments, the town walled with brick round about, without it goeth a great trench: no church pleased him but the Jesuits' church, which was sumptuously builded, and set full of alabaster pillars, where the spirit told Faustus that before the city was founded, there used a Basiliscus, a kind of serpent: this serpent killed as many men, women and children as he took a sight of, but there was a knight that made himself a cover of crystal, to come over his head and down to the ground, and being first covered with a black cloth, over that he put the crystal, and so boldly went to see the Basiliscus, and finding the place where she haunted, he expected her coming even before the mouth of the cave, where standing a while, the Basiliscus came forth, where when she saw her own venomous shadow in the crystal, she split in a thousand pieces, wherefore the knight was richly rewarded of the emperor, after the which the knight founded this town upon the place where he had slain the serpent, and gave it the name Basil, in remembrance of his deed.
From Basil, Faustus went to Costnitz in Sweitz, at the head of the Rhine, where is a most sumptuous bridge that goeth over the Rhine, even from the gates of the town to the other side of the stream; at the head of the river of Rhine, is a small sea, called of the Switzers the Black Sea, twenty thousand paces long, and fifty hundred paces broad. The town Costnitz took the name of this; the emperor gave it a clown for expounding of his riddle: wherefore the clown named the town Costnitz, that is in English, "Cost me nothing."
From Costnitz he came to Ulm, where he saw the sumptuous town house built by two-and-fifty of the ancient senators of the city; it took the name Ulm, because the whole land thereabouts is full of Elms: but Faustus minding to depart from thence, his spirit said unto him, "Faustus, think of the town as you will; it hath three dukedoms belonging to it, the which they have bought with ready money."
From Ulm he came unto Watzberg, the chiefest town in Frankland, wherein the bishop altogether keepeth his court, through the which town passeth the river Mayne, that runs into the Rhine; thereabouts groweth strong and pleasant wine, the which Faustus well proved: the castle standeth on a hill on the north side of the town, at the foot thereof runneth the river. This town is full of beggarly friars, nuns, priests, and Jesuits; for there are five sorts of begging friars, besides three cloisters of nuns; at the foot of the castle stands a church, in the which there is an altar, where are engraven all the four elements, and all the orders and degrees in heaven, that any man of understanding whosoever, that hath a light thereof, may say that it is the artificialist thing that ever he beheld.
From thence he went to Norenberg, whither as he went by the way his spirit informed him that the town was named of Claudius Tiberius, the son of Nero the Tyrant. In the town are two famous cathedral churches, one called St. Sabelt, the other St. Laurence; in which church stands all the relics of Carolus Magnus, that is to say, his cloak, his hose, his doublet, his sword and crown, the sceptre and apple. It hath a very glorious gilded conduit in the market-place of St. Laurence; in which conduit is the spear that thrust our Saviour into the side, and a piece of the holy cross; the wall is called the fair wall of Norenberg, and five hundred and twenty-eight streets, a hundred and sixty wells, four great and two small clocks, six great gates, two small doors, eight stone bridges, twelve small hills, ten fair market-places, thirteen common hot-houses, ten churches; within the town are twenty wheels of water-mills, it hath a hundred and thirty-eight tall ships, two mighty town walls of hewed stone and earth, with very deep trenches: the walls have a hundred and eighty towers about them, and four fair platforms, ten apothecaries, ten doctors of the common law, fourteen doctors of physic.
From Norenberg he went to Auspurg, where at the break of the day he demanded of his spirit whereupon the town took his name. "This town," quoth he, "hath had many names; when it was first built, it was called Vindelica; secondly, it was called Zizaria, the iron-bridge; lastly, by the Emperor Octavus Augustus, it was called Augusta, and by the corruption of language, the Germans had named it Auspurg."
Now, for because that Faustus had been there before, he departed (without seeing their monuments) to Ravensberg, where his spirit certified him that the city had seven names: the first Diperia, the second Quadratis, the third Heaspolis, the fourth Reginipolis, the fifth Imbripolis, the sixth Ratisbona, the last is Ravensberg. The situation of this city pleased Faustus well, also the strong and sumptuous building; by the walls thereof runneth the river Danubius, in Dutch called Danow, into which not far from the compass of the city falleth near hand threescore other small rivers and fresh waters. Faustus also liked the sumptuous stone bridge over the same water, with the church standing thereon, the which was founded Anno 1115, the name whereof is called St. Remedian; in the town Faustus went into the cellar of an inn-holder, and let out all the beer and wine that was in the cellar.
After which feat, he returned into Mentz in Bavaria, a right princely town: the town appeared as if it were new, with great streets therein, both of breadth and length from Mentz to Salisburg, where the bishop is always resident: here saw he all the commodities that were possible to be seen, for at the hill he saw the form of a bell made in crystal, a huge thing to look upon, that every year groweth bigger and bigger, by reason of the freezing cold.