THE CATHEDRAL OF COLOGNE, GERMANY. This church, known officially as the Cathedral of St. Peter’s, is, next to St. Peter’s at Rome, the largest church edifice in the world, and is, without any exception, the most magnificent specimen of Gothic architecture extant. Begun in 1248, the work went on very slowly. In 1322 the choir was consecrated. Then the work lagged still more, and at the beginning of the sixteenth century came to a sudden close, not being resumed till 1816, since which time more than two millions of dollars have been expended to bring the edifice to its present state of completion. The spires are five hundred and twenty-one feet high, and before the building of the Eiffel Tower this church was the highest edifice in the world. The height of the roof inside is one hundred and forty-five feet, the length of the building is four hundred and forty-four feet and the breadth two hundred and one. The choir is rich in statues, frescoes and fine carvings. A chapel, known as the chapel of the Three Kings, contains a gorgeous shrine, in which are exhibited the skulls of the three wise men who came from the East with presents for the infant Saviour.
HEIDELBERG CASTLE, GERMANY. On a height above the city of Heidelberg are the ruins of this old-time palace and fortress. Founded by the Elector Rudolph in the fourteenth century, and altered and added to by his successors, it partakes of the architectural style of all the three centuries. The French sacked and partially burned it in 1693; it was subsequently restored, but being struck by lightning in 1764, it has since been suffered to remain in ruins. As such it is one of the most magnificent remains of the Middle Ages—a square massive building, roofless, with a round tower at one end and an octagonal one at the other. Some idea of its strength may be gained from the fact that the walls of the round tower are twenty-two feet thick. In one of the cellars is the famous Tun of Heidelberg, a huge copper reservoir, bound with iron hoops, whose capacity is forty-nine thousand gallons.
EHRENBREITSTEIN, GERMANY. This fortress, whose name signifies the Broad Stone of Honor, is situated on a precipitous rock three hundred and seventy-seven feet above the Rhine, just opposite Coblentz. The rock is known as the Gibraltar of the Rhine. The ancient Romans recognized its commanding position and erected here a castrum or camp. In 1018 the Franconian king, Dagobert, presented it to the bishops of Treves, who made it their stronghold. It has successfully resisted many sieges, but was twice captured by the French, first in 1631 and again in 1798. After the Peace of Luneville in 1801 they blew it up. Restored to Prussia with the Peace of Paris, the French were forced to contribute 15,000,000 of francs to place it in its former condition. At present it is defended by four hundred cannon, and fifty thousand stands of needle guns are stored in its armory. It is capable of accommodating one hundred thousand men, but five thousand are sufficient to man it properly. The summit of the rock commands a magnificent view of the surrounding country. A bridge of boats connects the village of Ehrenbreitstein with Coblentz.
THE CATHEDRAL OF ANTWERP, BELGIUM. Though inferior to the great minster at Cologne, the cathedral at Antwerp is an exquisite and notable specimen of Gothic architecture. It is unfortunately situated in a narrow street, just away from the Place St. Antoine, and is hedged in by shops, which are backed up against its very walls. It is unfinished, only one of the towers being complete. The other is but half-way up, where it has been capped over, and has remained so for centuries. Nevertheless, nothing can detract from the majesty of the church itself. Out from the littleness of its surroundings it calmly rears its splendid front. Its solitary tower soars upward to the height of four hundred and three feet, with delicate open arches that look like fretted work, so that Napoleon said: “It looked as if made of Mechlin lace.” The chimes of ninety-nine bells are deservedly famous. The interior is glorified by the presence of Rubens’ two greatest pictures, “The Elevation of the Cross” and “The Descent from the Cross.” Begun about the middle of the thirteenth century, it suffered seriously from fire in the sixteenth century, and the greater part of the present edifice dates from that period. In the foreground of the picture is the monument to Rubens.
PALAIS DE JUSTICE, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM. The new Palace of Justice, or Court-house, in Brussels, is the largest architectural work of the present century, and one of the most magnificent. It was begun in 1866 and completed in 1883 at a total cost of $10,000,000. It is splendidly situated on a height commanding a view of the whole city. This massive pile covers an area of two hundred and seventy thousand square feet, considerably more than St. Peter’s, at Rome, and is five hundred and ninety feet long by five hundred and sixty wide. The avowed aim of the artist was to accommodate Assyrian form to modern requirements. Above the main body of the building rises another rectangular structure, surrounded with columns, this, in turn, supporting a columned rotunda, the whole crowned by a dome which is four hundred feet above the pavement. In details the Græco-Roman style has been generally adhered to, with an admixture of rococo treatment.
