WARSAW.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 August 1915, Page 5

WARSAW.

THE LOST CITY. MANY BEAUTIFUL MONUMENTS* HISTORIC ASSOCIATIONS. Warsaw, a city of Russian Poland, capital of a Government of its own nam« and of the general Government of Wan saw, embracing Russian Poland, and formerly capital of the kingdom of Poland, is on the left bank of the Vistula, (125 miles to the s.s.w. of Petrograd and 320 miles east of Berlin. The city is built for the most part on a hill about 100 ft above the river, sloping towards the west to an undulating plain. Tb« suburb of Praga, on the- right bank, in connected with the city by a fine iron bridge.

Warsaw is defended by the Alexander Citadel, in the north, and by 15 detached forts, and the old town with its narrow and tortuous streets bearskin »art, a. mediaeval aspect. The gates nunjber 11, and beyond tbem-Jie the suburbs, how ia-. eluded within tho municipal' jurisdiction.-

NOTEWORTHY EDIFICES. The city, which is still the active centro of Polish life, presents an animated' appearance, and on its most frequented square, the Castle Square, originally) named after Sigismund 111., stands the 1 Castle of the old Polish kings, which ia now the residence of the Governor-Gen-eral. It was erected by tho Masonian ; dukes, restored in the 17th century, and | greatly embellished by John Sobleski, and Stanilas Poniatowski.

'Die Saxon Square is another' fine publie place, but the handsomest ana busiest thoroughfare is the Cracow suburb, with many palaces and elegant shops. Th«! Mjazdowska Avenue is the fashionable * l>ronienade leading to the open air re- ■ sorts, and Jerusalem Street is another flno avenue. In its beautiful garden! the, city possesses a particular attraction, ■ guldens such as those adjoining the/ Saxon Square, or those surrounding palaces like the Krasiiiskl, the Belvedua Chateau, and the Lazienki, an elegant* castle in the Italian style built in 1707< 88. Other pn luces are the Zamoyeki,. containing valuable art collections; the: former Bruhl Palace, in use as a tele* graph office; and the Radziwill, used for administrative purposes. Other noteworthy cdiflcos are tho Grand National Theatre, tho Town Hall, and the buildings of the Imperial Biinld and the finance administration. The city is the seat of an orthodox ■ ■Russian and of a Roman (Miotic archbishop. The Roman Catholic Cathedral of 'St. John, a Gothic structure founded in the middle of the 13th, century, eontains many monuments to distinguiahed Poles, and Wie Church of tho Holy Virgin, dating from 1419, Is the best preserved of tho ancient ecclesiastical till-, fices, among which may also be mention-. Ed tho Church of St. Anne, founded In. Hst. The domed Lutheran Church was' finished in 1799, and the Alexander Church, since erected toy Alexander 1., has! recently been restored, while since 180* the large Russian Alexander Nevskf ' Cathedral has been in the course of erection.

Public monuments include an obelisk, in honour of the Polish generals wha fell in IS3O faithful to the Russian; Crown, and statues to Paskcvitch, Copi ernicus, John Soibieski, Slgismund OTj and the poet Mickiewiez. Tho university, founded in 1810, and suspended after the revolution of -188031, was in ISO 9 re-opened ns a Russian institution. In 1902 it had 1400 student* and connected with it are a library, ethnographic museum, observatory, and botanical gardens. The city possesses a polytechnic institute, a conservatory of music, and a museum of fine arts. ; CENTRE OF INDUSTRY.

Next to Lodz, Warsaw is the principal industrial centre of Poland. Its imuivu faclures include metallic, wares, machinery, food products, chemicals, matches, spirits, and tobacco, while the shoe industry, carried on in small establishments, is in the aggregate considerable. The climate is temperate, with a mean, annual temperature of 45dog„ the mean temperature of January being 24dcg.,'', and of Julv (ifldeg.

its population in 1882 was 382,981; in 1897, 1i35,208, of whom one-third wore .' Jews; and in 1'.10.i it was estimated fit, 750,000. Warsaw rose into importance in the middle auos as the residence of the.'» dukes of Masouia, and early in the 17th century it supplanted Cracow Rs the capital of Poland, Cracow, however, remaining the coronation city. In July, 1650, the Poles were vanquished in Warsaw in a three-days' battle by the forces of Charles X.'of Sweden and Frederick William, the "Ureal .Elector'', of IJrnndenbevg. In 1702 Charles XII. of Sweden entered the city. From J 7 !>.">. to 1806 Prussia, was In possess'on: of the city,' ami from 1807 to 1813 it was the capital' of the duchv of Warsaw, which was ruled by Frederick Augustus 1., King of , Saxony", as a vassal of Napoleon. In 1813 it waß occupied by. the Russians, ■ under whom it became the capital of the. . new kingdom of Poland. In November, 1830, it rose against the TiUSsians, but in September, 1831, the forces of the Tsar re-entered the city.