The town-house—which incloses the remains of the imperial palace—adorns the mar ket-place, having the bell or market tower on the left, and on the right the Grain's tower, a memorial of old Roman times. The coronation ball, 162 ft. long, by 60 ft. wide, in the inter. ior of the town-house, was, in the last century, divided in the middle by a wooden parti tion. This noble hall, in which thirty-tive German emperors and fourteen empresses have been crowned, has been restored to its original form, and the walls have been lately deco rated with large fresco-paintings of scenes from the life of Charlemagne, by Redid. Before the town-house stands a beautiful fountain, with a bronze statue of Charlemagne. In the church of the Franciscans are to be seen a fine picture of the taking down of Christ from the cross, by Vandyck, and two other pictures representing the crucifixion, by A. Diepeubeeck. At a short distance from A. and surrounded by the river, stands Frankenburg, once the favorite residence of Charlemagne and of Fastrada, and still rich in legends. It has been rebuilt from its romantic ruins. As a t. A. has recently been much improved. It now possesses many fine buildings, among which are several large and splendid hotels. From being a quiet old city of historical interest, it has become a busy center of manufacturing industry. In 1870, a new polytechnic school was erected. A. was formerly noted for its gambling-tables; but these are now disallowed.
The name of Aix or Aachen is evidently derived from the springs, for which the place has been always famous (see AA.). The name Aquis Granum, which it received about the 3d c., may possibly be derived from Grams, one of time names of Apollo, who was worshiped by the Romans near springs. The French nainc, A., refers to the chapel of the palace. Charlemagne granted extraordinary privileges to this city. The citizens were exempted, in all parts of the empire, from personal and military service, from imprisonment, and from all taxes. The city also possessed the right of sanctuary: " the
air of A. made all free, even outlaws." In the middle ages this tree imperial city (then included in the circle of Westphalia) contained more than 100,000 inhabitants, and held an important place among the confederated cities of the Rhine. The emperors were crowned in A. from Louis the Pious to Ferdinand I. (813-1531 A.D.); 17 imperial diets and 11 provincial councils were held within its walls. The removal of the coronations to Frankfort, the religious contests of the 16th and 17th c., a great fire which in 1656 A.D. consumed about 4000 houses in the city, combined with other causes to bring into decay this once flourishing community. In Jun., 1793, and again in 1794, A. was occupied by the French. By the treaties concluded at Campo Formic' and Luneville, it was for mally ceded to France. and became the capital of the department of Roer; at length, in 1815, the city fell to Prussia. See Quix, Geseltielite der Stadt A. (History of A.), 2 vols., A., 1841.
The MINERAL SPRINGS of A., of which six are hot, and two cold, were known in the time of Charlemagne, and were much frequented as early as 1170. The hot springs are strongly sulphurous, and contain also hydrochlorates. The temperature varies from 111° to 136" F. They chiefly act on the liver and on the mucous surfaces and skin, and are therefore efficacious in cases of gout, rheumatism, cutaneous diseases, etc. The most remarkable is the "emperor's spring." which rises in the middle of the hotel Kaiserhad. The baths themselves are from 4 to •) ft. deep, and are built quite in the old Roman style. The cold springs are chalybeate and not so copious. The new " Eisenquelle" (iron spring), first discovered in 1829, is provided with an elegant bath-house. The well proved medicinal virtues of the mineral springs of A. bring yearly to the city many thousands of strangers. •