PRAGUE, prag (Bohemian Praha. Ger. Brag). The capital of the Austrian Crownland of Bohemia. situated on both banks of the Mob dau. 150 miles northwest of Vienna (Map: Aus tria, D 1). Excluding the suburbs, Prague con sists of -even pans; the Altstadt, on the right bank of the river; the old Ghetto, known as the Josephstadtg and surrounded by the Altstadt; the Neustadt, which inclose, the Altstadt: the Kleinseite, on the slope- of the Lanrenzberg along the left bank of the river; the Hradschin. the kremlin of old Prague, lying ou an elevation northwest of the Kleinseite: the new quarter of Wischehrad, on the right bank of the river south of the Neustadt ; and the industrial quarter of Dolesebowitz-Bubna in the northeast.
The Moldau is spanned in Prague by nine bridges, of which the best known is the Karls briicke (13'57-1307), .546 yards long, with two towers and many buttresses embellished with statues of saints. They include that of Saint John Nepomuk. who is supposed to have been thrown into the river here bv order of King Wenceslas, and is regarded by the Bohemi ans as a patron saint of bridges. The most inter esting portion of Prague is the Altstadt. which has still preserved its mediaeval appearance. Its centre is the Grosser Ring. a fine square. with a monument ( Mariensiinle ) erected in 1630 in commemoration of the liberation of the city from the Swedes. On the eastern side of the square stands the old Hussite Teyn Church (begun in the fourteenth century). adorned with two strik ing towers, and containing the tomb of the Danish astronomer Tycho Brabe, marble statues of the apostles to the Slays, Cyril and Methodius, and a fine winged altar.
Opposite the Teyn Church is the town ball. It is a handsome building with a tower, and con tains the council chamber of the old structure which has been so closely associated with the eventful history of the city. Its halcony is embellished with statue,. and the council cham ber contains a large painting by Broiik, "Huss Before the Council of Constance." Reside- the buildings of the famous university (see PRAGUE, UNIVERSITY OF) , the Altstadt contains also the Rudolphinum, a fine Renaissance edifice on the P,udolfs Quai, with a conservatory of music. an art industrial museum, and an extensive picture gallery containing many very good paintings by Bohemian as well as by Dutch. Italian. French, and German masters; the Kreuzherren-Kirche. modeled after Saint Peter's; the palace of Count Clam Gallas (1701-12) in the baroque style; the Kin=ky Palace. with a valuable library: the
Pulverthurrn. a relic of the old wall which once separated the Altstadt from the Neustadt: and the Konigshof. formerly the palace of the Bohe mian kings. now used as barracks.
The Josephstadt formed the Ghetto of Prague until 154S. hut is now inhabited mostly by It is the most densely populated por tion of the city and contains the old Jewish synagogue dating from the twelfth century. and the curious Jewish burial ground crowded with ancient tombstones having Hebrew inscriptions and various symbols denoting the tribe of the deceased. The Hradschin contains a vast Burg begun, it is fabled, by Princess Libussa and completed by Maria Theresa. In the council chamber of the Burg is shown the window from which the two Imperial counselors were hurled in 161S—the initial act in the Thirty Years' War. The unfinished Gothic cathedral in the Hradschin was begun in 1344 and its choir completed in 1353. Among the interesting ob jects in the interior are the marble mausoleum of the Bohemian kings; the Chapel of Saint Wenceslas, embellished with precious stones and faded frescoes; and the silver monument to Saint John Nepomuk.
In the western part of the Hradschin is the Premonstratensian Abbey of Strahow (founded in the twelfth century). with its Church of the Assumption, containing the tomb of Saint Nor bert, the founder of the Order, a valuable pic ture gallery, a fine library, and a good natural history collection. Among other prominent fea tures of the Hradschin mention should be made of the barracks, formerly the palace of Count Czernin: the Capuchin monastery: the Renais sance palace called the Belvedere, erected by King Ferdinand I. in 1538; the archiepiscopal palace; and the Sehwarzenberg Palace. The Kleinseite. although inferior in interest to the Altstadt and the Hradsc•hin, pos-sesses some buildings of histori cal and architectural interest. Chief among them are the churches of Saint Nicholas and Saint Thomas; the interesting palace built by Wal lenstein in 1623-30, with a fine garden and many valued relics of the great general, and a chapel containing, a number of paintings by Diirer and others: the palace of Nositz, with a notable pic ture gallery; the Lobkow•itz Palace, with an ex tensive library: the hall of the Provincial Diet; and the Supreme Court.