Page:Guide to the Bohemian section and to the Kingdom of Bohemia - 1906.djvu/30

24 the whole of Austria built in the style of the XVIIIth century (1712—1719).

It is a pity that it does not stand by itself and that the streets in its vicinity are narrow with tall houses on both sides.

The corner of Seminary lane is marked by a very bizarre, but in spite of that very beautiful house, called „At the golden well“. Its chief façade, built in the rococo style, faces a small square, the whole northern side of which is taken up by the walls of the Clementinum, a building of gigantic dimensions, a former Jesuit College, secularized in Emperor Joseph’s II. time. There are two churches in it on this side, St. Clements’ church and St. Salvators’s Church (the latter one of the longest churches in Prague) and between them where the street takes a slight bend is the so-called Italian chapel (Vlašská kaple) which attracts the attention of the passers-by by its beautiful railing of forged iron. The Clementine College is an extensive building situated between four streets and a large square, and stands on the site of 32 houses two streets and two large gardens, which had to be bought up, before it was built. Later on several other neighbouring houses were added. Among the most interesting objects of this large complex building we must mention in the first place the Observatory which was built by the Jesuits in the XVIIth century in a richly adorned style of architecture. The tower is crowned by the statue of Atlas bearing a large globe upon his shoulders. In the Observatory some ancient instruments are preserved among them an ingenious sextant of Tycho de Brahe; and all the other internal appointments of the building dating from the XVIIth. century are the chief building of one of the courts is of cruciform shape, the lower part of which contains the Mirror-chapel (Zrcadlová kaple). On the upper floor is a splendid hall of the library of the adjoining university, which contains 300.000 volumes of books and 4000 very valuable manuscripts. There is an almost complete collection of all Bohemian books published, from the time of the founder of the university-Charles IV. There are also the originals of the writings of Wycliffe, John Huss and of his successors, and kept in the original state. Besides the observatory,