WARSAW, the capital formerly of Poland, now of the province of Warsaw in European Russia, is agreeably situated on an eminence on the left bank of the Vistula, in 52° 10' N. lat., 21° E. long., and had 164,115 inhabitants in 1851. It consists of the city itself, which is divided into the Old and the New Town, and of several suburbs. The city is surrounded with ramparts, and defended by a citadel and other fortifications. The circumference of the city and suburbs (iucludiug Praga, a suburb on the right bank of the Vistula) is 10 miles, but there are many gardens and open spaces iu this area The city itself is irregu larly built and the streets narrow, but the suburbs are distinguished by their regularity and Sue buildings, and entitle Warsaw to rank among the handsomest cities in Europe. These suburbs are adorned with splendid edifices, with broad, well-lighted, and paved streets; the mean wooden houses which formerly stood here have gradually dis appeared, and others of stone taken their place. Among the pnblio structures are—the royal (now the imperial) palace, built by King Sigismund III., who transferred his residence from Cracow to Warsaw; the Saxon palace, with a fine garden ; the palace, formerly the resi dence of the primate, since occupied by the commissariat department ; the Krasineki palace, a very fine building, now the palace of the government ; the palaces formerly belonging to Prince Radzivil and Count Briihl ; the buildings of the former university ; the arsenal ; the mint ; the Marieville bazaar, an imitation of the Petals Royal in Paris ; the military hospital; and the great barracks. There are besides above a hundred palaces of the Polish nobles, and 18 convents (some of these have been suppressed), each with its own church. Among the other churches of Warsaw the most remarkable are—the Catholic cathedral of St. John, the church of the Holy Cross, that of St.-Alexauder (built by means of contributions which were collected for the purpose of erecting a triumphal arch in honour of the emperor Alexander's first entry into Warsaw); the church of St.-Borromeo, and
a beautiful Lutheran church. Warsaw has five theatres; numerous useful and charitable institutions ; a National bank, established by order of the emperor Nicholas in 1828; a foundling hospital, six other hospitals, an agricultural academy, a deaf and dumb asylum, and numerous schools. Of the population about 30,000 are Jews. The manufactures of Warsaw comprise broadcloth, cotton-prints, linen, woollen-stuffs, hosiery, hats, gold- and silver-wares, paper, tobacco, saddlery, beer, chemicals, &c. ; and the trade of the city is consider able, being favoured by the Vistula, five annual fairs, and by a railway, which joins the Cracow-Vienna line at Granica.
Before the Cracow gate stands the gilt bronze statue of King Sigis muud III. on a marble column 26 feet high. The emperor Nicholas caused a splendid monument to be erected in the church of the Capuchins, in honour of King Johu III. (Sobieski), the conqueror of the Turks. In 1830 the statue of Copernicus was erected before the palace of the Royal Society of Friends of the Sciences, aud the statue of Prince Joseph Poniatowski, who lost his life in the battle of Leipzig, was set up in the Cracow suburb. Another statue of Copernicus, by Thorwaldsen, was erected in 1S49.
The University of Warsaw, abolished in 1834, has been replaced by two colleges; but its library of 150,000 volumes and all its other valuable collections were transferred to St. Petersburg. Warsaw has also a theological seminary, a rabbinical college, an observatory, a botanic garden, two gymnasia, numerous Russian schools, libraries, and literary associations. Warsaw became the capital of Poland in 1566, of the Grand Duch); of Warsaw in 1807, and of Russian Poland in 1815. The Poles drove the Russians out of it in 1830, but the latter recovered it a few months after; and since this insurrection the most persevering efforts have been made by Russia to abolish the nationality, the religion, and the language of the Poles. [POLAND.]