Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/242

Rh 220 VIENNA works, consisting of a rampart and fosse, were constructed in 1704 to surround the whole city at that time, including its suburbs; and these are still maintained as the boundary- line for the city imposts, and separate the above-named districts from the as yet unincorporated suburbs. This second girdle of fortifications is known as the Lines (Linien), and a second wide boulevard (Giirtel-Strasse) follows their course round the city. Near the centre of the inner city, most of the streets in which are narrow and irregular, is the cathedral of St Stephen, the most important mediaeval building in Vienna, dating in its present form mainly from the 14th and 15th centuries, but incorporating a few fragments of the original 12th-century edifice. Among its most striking features are the fine and lofty tower (450 feet), rebuilt in 1860-64 ; the extensive catacombs, in which the emperors were for merly interred ; the sarcophagus (1513) of Frederick III. ; the tomb of Prince Eugene of Savoy ; thirty-eight marble altars ; and the fine groined ceiling. A little to the south-west of the cathedral is the Hofburg, or imperial palace, a huge complex of buildings of various epochs and in various styles, enclosing several courtyards. The oldest part of the present edifice dates from the 13th century, and extensive additions are now being made according to Plan of the city of Vienna. the plans of the architect Fischer von Erlach (1656-1723). In addition to private rooms and state apartments, the Hofburg contains a library of 400,000 volumes and 20,000 MSS. ; the imperial treasury, a storehouse of objects of the greatest historical interest and intrinsic value ; a cabinet of coins and antiquities ; and other important col lections. In the old town are the two largest of the Hofe, extensive blocks of buildings belonging to the great abbeys of Austria, which are common throughout Vienna. These are the Schottenhof (once belonging to the &quot;Scoti,&quot; or Irish Benedictines) and the Molkerhof, adjoining the open space called the Freiung, each forming a little town of itself. As in most Continental towns, the custom of living in flats is prevalent in Vienna, where few except the richer nobles occupy an entire house. Of late the so-called &quot; Zins- palaste &quot; (&quot;tenement palaces&quot;) have been built on a large and magnificent scale, often profusely adorned without and within with painting and sculpture. Some of the finest of these, a characteristic feature of Vienna architecture, are also to be seen in the old town. Other notable buildings within the line of the old fortifications are the Gothic Augustine church, containing a fine monument by Canova; the Capuchin church, with the burial vault of the Haps- burgs ; the church of Maria-Stiegen, an interesting Gothic building of the 14th century; the handsome Greek church, by Hansen ; and the old rathhaus. At the corner of the Graben is the &quot;Stock im Eisen,&quot; the stump of a tree, said to be the last survivor of a holy grove round which the original settlement of Vindomina sprang up (see p. 222 below). It is full of nails driven into it by travelling journeymen. In the number of its large and handsome modern build ings Vienna can hold its own with any European capital. Most of these are found in or adjoining the Ring-Strasse, which certainly ranks as one of the most imposing achieve ments of recent street architecture. Opposite the Hof-