MAINZ (Fr. Mayence) a city, episcopal see and fortress of Germany, situated on the left bank of the Rhine, almost opposite the influx of the Main, at the junction of the important main lines of railway from Cologne to Mannheim and Frankfort-on-Main, 25 m. W. of the latter. Pop. (1905), 91,124 (including a garrison of 7500 men), of whom two-thirds are Roman Catholic. The Rhine, which here attains the greatest breadth of its upper course, is crossed by a magnificent bridge of five arches, leading to the opposite town of Castel and by two railway bridges. The old fortifications have recently been pushed farther back, and their place occupied by pleasant boulevards. The river front has been converted into a fine promenade, commanding extensive views of the Taunus range of mountains, and the "Rheingau," the most favoured wine district of Germany. Alongside the quay are the landing-places of the steamboats navigating the Rhine. The railway, which formerly incommoded the bank, has been diverted, and now, following the ceinture of the new line of inner fortifications, runs into a central station lying to the south of the city. The interior of the old town consists chiefly of narrow and irregular streets, with many quaint and picturesque houses. The principal street of the new town is the Kaiserstrasse, leading from the railway station to the river. The first object of historical and architectural interest in Mainz is the grand old cathedral, an imposing Romanesque edifice with numerous Gothic additions and details (for plan, &c. see ARCHITECTURE: _Romanesque and Gothic in Germany_). It was originally erected between 975 and 1009, but has since been repeatedly burned down and rebuilt, and in its present form dates chiefly from the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries. The largest of its six towers is 300 ft. high. The whole building was restored by order of Napoleon in 1814, and another thorough renovation was made more recently. The interior contains the tombs of Boniface, the first archbishop of Mainz, of Frauenlob, the Minnesinger, and of many of the electors. Mainz possesses nine other Roman Catholic churches, the most noteworthy of which are those of St Ignatius, with a finely painted ceiling, of St Stephen, built 1257-1328, and restored after an explosion in 1857, and of St Peter. The old electoral palace (1627-1678), a large building of red sandstone, now contains a valuable collection of Roman and Germanic antiquities, a picture gallery, a natural history museum, the Gutenberg Museum, and a library of 220,000 volumes. Among the other principal buildings are the palace of the grand duke of Hesse, built in 1731-1739 as a lodge of the Teutonic order, the theatre, the arsenal, and the government buildings. A handsome statue of Gutenberg, by Thorwaldsen, was erected at Mainz in 1837. Mainz still retains many relics of the Roman period, the most important of which is the Eigelstein, a monument believed to have been erected by the Roman