Page:Guide to the Bohemian section and to the Kingdom of Bohemia - 1906.djvu/55

41 depth beneath the beholder, through the bluish gray veil o the atmosphere of a large town, through the rising and falling mist and smoke we discern the labyrinth of thousands of buildings and larger parks, the red pantile-roofs and the dartlike silhouettes of numberless steeples and spires. And in the foreground of this misty picture ascends the majestic sight of the green cupola of St. Nicolas which we cannot see from anywhere else to such advantage, here it comes into view above the ridges of the Small Town houses. How very small appear in comparison with it, the two bridge-towers, the Maltese-steeples, the Old-town water tower, the group of the Clementinum spires, the red steeples of the Russian church, the dungeon of the town-hall, and beyond these the silvery grey spires of the Powder-tower and the dart-like form of St. Henry’s church-tower. On the right, a little-nearer to the foreground, we see the heavy steeples of St. Aegidius, and farther on across the river the onion-shaped roof of the New-Town water-tower, the New Town-Hall Tower, the steeples of Emaus and those of St. Stephen, St. John in the background, St. Apollinaris, St. Catherine, and the characteristic low, broad dome of the Karlov, beyond which we just preceiveperceive [sic] the misty silhouettes of the spires of St. Ludmila’s church and the steeples of the Synagogue in Královské Vinohrady.

On a bright day there is also a fine view of the farther country, of the forests of Jílové, Černý Kostelec and Zbraslav, of the spreading plains of Ouval and Běchovice, bordered far away on the outline of the horizon, by the hills of Hradešín.

The eye, dazzled by the soft, warm tones of this wonderful picture, is at a loss where to dwell and rest first: whether on the bluish outlines of the several parts of the town, or on the varying colours of the surroundings or on the white band of the beautiful river winding along on its curving course through the whole scene.

A true royal city, one of the most beautiful in the world lies here before us. Lingeringly we turn away to pass through the spacious renaissance porch of the Castle (dating from 1614) and by its beautifu! stair-case to the first Castle yard, and farther on through a low-arched passage to the second Castle court, which is entirely com-