KONGSBERG, or CONISBERG, is a town of Norway which is traversed by the river Lowe. It is chiefly cele brated for its silver mines, which are about two miles dis tant from the town. No fewer than 36 mines were work ing when Mr. Coxe visited them. The deepest, called Segent Gottes in der Nord, is 652 feet perpendicular. In 1769, these mines produced 79,0001. ; but when Mr. Coxe visited them, they produced from 50,000/. to 54,000/. About 2500 men were then employed. Kongsberg contains 1000 houses, and 60r0 inhabitants. See Coxe's Travels in Nor way, Es' c . vol. v. p. 33, 34. Sce also NonwAy.
KONfGSBERG, or KROLEWIECZ, in thelPolish lan guage, is a city and seaport town of Prussia, situated on the river Pregel, which flows into the Frische-Haf, and is crossed with seven bridges. It was founded in the year 1255, and was rebuilt on another site in 1264. Konigsberg is composed of 4 towns, and 16 suburbs, and is surrounded by a rampart about seven English miles in circumference. Aldstadt, or the Old Town, contains 16 streets, and 550 houses, of which about 100 are breweries and malthouses. It has six gates, four bridges, and two well built towers. Ncwstadt, or Lobenicht, was built in the year 1300, and Kneiphof was founded in 1324. This last part of Konigs berg is situated on an island formed by the Pregel, and the houses stand on piles made of the alder tree, which has become as hard as iron from remaining long in the earth.
It contains 13 streets, and 5 large gates. The principal public buildings and curios“ies at Konigsberg are, the chateau ; the arsenal, (containing the Muscovite saloon, and the octagonal table, valued at 40,000 rix-dollars ;) the gartt4ns, stables, and mint, belonging to the arsenal ; the parish church of Nicholas; the hotel de ville, where the magistrates of the three towns, who were incorporated in 1724, hold their meetings; the church of Rossgarte ; the widows' and orphans' hospital ; the cathe dral, containing the tombs of the niargraves and the grand masters, and also an organ, which has more than 5000 pipes, and which was completed in 1721 ; the Albertine college ; the church of Haberberg, which is the finest in Konigsberg ; the exchange ; the hotel de ville of Kneip hof ; the citadel ; the palace of Kayserling ; and the anato mical theatre. The university of this place was founded by the Margrave Albert, in 1544. It has 38 _professors, ex clusive of tutors, and in 1802 it contained 300 students. There is also the lyceum of Ft edcric William, and the German Society. The citadel, which is called Fredericks burg, was erected in 1657, at the conflux of the two branches of the Pregel. It is a regular square, surround ed with broad ditches and the river Pregel. The princi
pal collection of cabinets in the town are, the royal library : the collection of antiquities.and yellow amber at the chateau; the library at \Vallenroth ; the university library ; and the town library.
The chief manufactures of Konigsberg are woollen stuffs, flannels, stockings, ribbons, Danish gloves, sailcloth, wax, soap, English pottery, and works of yellow amber,• which amounted, in 1776, to 977,639 crowns. There are here no fewer than 224 breweries of beer, 135 distillers of brandy, and 80 turners of yellow amber.
Konigsberg, which was formerly one of the Hanse towns, has always carried on a thriving commerce. Vessels, which draw more than eight feet of water, cannot ascend the Pregel, and remain, at Pillau, which is the port of Konigsberg. 'On the other side, this town communicates with Poland by the Niemen, by means of a canal. Large Polish barks, called wittinnes, carry to Konigsberg grain, hides, skins, oak, and fir timber. About 600 or 700 ships at rive here annually from the Baltic, and almost as many set out.
Konigsberg contains about 4308 houses, and 54,000 in habitants. East Long. 20° 29' 15", North Lat. 54° 42' 12". •KOOM is a city of Persia, in the province of Irak. It is supposed by D'Anville to be the ancient Clv:ana ; and was built in the year of the Hegira 203, out of the ruins of seven towns, which formed a small sovereignty. The Arabian prince, to whom it belonged, having been over thrown, the inhabitants of the seven towns founded the city of Koom, which was divided into seven parts, each of which received the name of one of the towns. Koom is si tuated on an extensive plain, and on the banks of a small river, which is absorbed in the Great Salt Desert, and was long celebrated for its manufactures of silk. In 1722, this city was destroyed by the Afghans. A part of it has since been rebuilt, but it still resembles a vast ruin. The prin cipal public building is a beautiful college, with a cele brated mosque and sanctuary, erected in memory of Sidi Fatima, the daughter of Iman Reza, and grand-daughter of Mahomet. The tombs of Sefi the First, and Shah Abbas the Second, are still in the mosque, and are frequented by pilgrims from all parts of Asia. The public squares of Koom are small. The walls are lofty, with seven gates. The bazar crosses the town, from one gate to the other. In the time of Chardin, the chief manufactures were white earthen-ware, soap, sword-blades, sabres, and poniards ; and the number of houses was 15,000. Its lofty dome has been gilt at the expellee of the king. East Long. 50° 29', North Lat. 34° 45'. See Chardin's Travels ; and Mac donald Kinneir's Geographical Memoir of the Persian Em pire, p. 116.