It has little left of ancient interest, if we except the Cathedral of St. Nicholas, and the situation lacks any sort of charm. The town lies in the flat plain beside a canal. This canal is as a bow to the string of the river Danube, and was made in order to bring water facilities to the capital. The difficulty is to imagine why this particular place was chosen as a site rather than any other. On one side at a distance of a mile or so are the heights of Kablenburg and Leopoldsburg, which can be reached by rail, and from which the whole place can be seen lying unfolded like a map. The canal with its many bridges curves round at one’s feet, and at the outermost rim of its bow is the town with many fine buildings, including the Cathedral, standing up conspicuously out of the mass of lower ones. Away to the south is the lumpy hill of Wagram where Napoleon won a hard-fought battle. The city has tasted not once but many times in its history the bitterness of capture and was twice occupied by the all-conquering Napoleon. But if the site shows little to attract attention, the town itself is full of charm, which is felt at once by any foreigner visiting it. Though the architecture shows Italian influence, yet it is characteristic and different from anything seen elsewhere; it carries its own stamp and is Viennese. Then there is a peculiar lightness and brightness in the streets for which it is difficult to account; it is somewhat the same atmosphere as that of Paris, but again has its own distinctive flavour. Everywhere in the boulevards, the shops, the cafés, one meets the same willingness to help, the same cheerful courtesy, the same attractive simplicity of manner; there is nothing over-elaborated or forced. There is plenty of light and air, and if Vienna cannot boast the attractions of ancient buildings, she can boast all the advantages of a modern city. The chief features of the town are the Cathedral of St. Stephen, the Royal Palace of Schönbrunn, and the Prater. The Cathedral, founded in 1144, is in an ornate style of Gothic, and its soaring spire, seen far and wide over the country, is balanced and finished by the pointed lesser towers, the gables and the windows, so that the principal note is one of uplifting. At one time the building, like most old churches, was encumbered by a mass of houses, hovels, etc., which clung to its sides like barnacles, but these were all swept away, and the glorious architecture is now seen to advantage. The celebrated tomb of Frederick IV. in the choir is of red marble ornamented by more than 300 figures and subjects. The whole building is one of the finest existing monuments of old German architecture in existence. The lofty vaulting of the nave is supported by eighteen pillars. Anton Pilgram’s chancel is particularly deserving of study, and the visitor should not miss the thirty-eight altars of sculptured marble. Most notable is the High Altar with the sculpture of the Stoning of St. Stephen.