Prague (Ger. Prag; Czech Praha), the capital of Bohemia, is situated at the base and on the slope of the hills which skirt both sides of the isleted Moldau, two hundred and seventeen miles from Vienna and one hundred and eighteen miles from Dresden. It offers a highly picturesque appearance from the beauty of its site, and the numerous lofty towers (more than seventy in number) which rise above the palaces, public buildings, and bridges of the city.
STATUE OF THE POET GRILLPARZER IN VIENNA
The royal Burg, on the Hradschin (two hundred and forty feet), the ancient residence of the Dukes of Bohemia, dates mainly now from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and has four hundred and forty rooms. The neighboring Cathedral of St. Vitus is still unfinished, though building was resumed in 1867. Here are the splendid royal mausoleum and the shrine of St. John of Nepomuk, containing one and one-half tons of silver. Of forty-seven other Catholic Churches the chief are the domed Jesuit Church of St. [532] Nicolas, and the Teyn Church (1407; the old Hussite Church), with Tycho Brahé’s grave, and its marble statue of the Slavonic martyrs, Cyril and Methodius.
ROYAL PALACE, SCHÖNBRUNN, NEAR VIENNA
Of five bridges and two railway viaducts the most striking is the Karlsbrücke, five hundred and forty-three yards long, with gate-towers at either end, and statues of John of Nepomuk and other saints. Other noteworthy objects are the town hall, the Pulverturm, the new Czech Theatre, the old Jewish graveyard, the vast Czerni Palace and the Picture Gallery.
Prague has numerous public gardens and walks, with several noble parks close by. The manufactures include machinery, chemicals, leather, cotton, linen, gloves, beer and spirits.
SALZBURG, AUSTRIA, ONE OF THE MOST CHARMING TOWNS IN EUROPE, AND BIRTHPLACE OF MOZART AND HAYDN