BBEBA. 464 BRESLAtr. antique works. In its courtyard stands Canova's bronze of Napoleon I. as Roman Emperor. BBESCIA, bre'sha (anciently Lat. Brixia, founded by the Etruscans). An episcopal city of Lomoardv, Italy (Jlap: Italy. E 2), capital of the Province of Biescia, 52 miles east of Milan. It is situated in a fertile plain at the foot of the Alps, on the Jlella and the Garza, and is dom- inated by a citadel known as the Falcone d'ltal- ia, that overlooks it from the rocky steeps on the north. Of the sixty-five churches that pros- pered at the time of the Venetian Republic, less than half are used for worship to-day. The old cathedral, generally called La Rotonda, from its massive dome structure, dates partly from tne Ninth Century, partly from the Twelfth. The new cathedral, begun in 1604, but not com- pleted imtil the Nineteenth Century, is one of the best examples of Seventeenth Century archi- tecture. The mag:niflcent city hall, called La Loggia, the exterior of which is covered with ornamentation, was begun in 1489, on the ruins of a temple of Vulcan. The Broletto is a mas- sive Twelfth Century building, once the city hall, Init now containing the courts of justice. The Roman Museum occupies a Corinthian temple excavated in 1822, and originall.y erected by Vespasian in a.d. 72. It is exceedingly pic- turesque, and holds many valuable Roman an- tiquities. The Mediaeval Museum also contains numerous treasures. In the Palazzo Tozio, be- queathed to the to^vn by Count Tozio, and in the Palazzo Martinengo, are important collections of ancient and modern paintings, engravings, and statuary. The library, bequeathed to the town in 1750 by Cardinal Quirini, has over 80,000 bound volumes and 1500 manuscripts, among them a Ninth Century Book of the Gos- pels, a Tenth Century Harmony of the Gospels by Eusebius, and a Dante manuscript. The number of works in the to'n, both al fresco and in oils, by Alessandro Bonvicino, called II Moretto, is accounted for by the fact that he was born and passed most of his life in Brescia. The city has many charitable institutions, a street railway, a theatre, a lyceum, several gym- nasia, botanical gardens, and various academies, among them the Acoademia de' Filarmonici, which is one of the oldest in Italy. Water from Mombiano is distributed by an aqueduct to 72 public and 400 private fountains. The most im- portant manufactures are of iron, and many fire- arms are made here for the Italian Army. The spinning, weaving, and working up of silk, flax, cotton, and wool into various articles of use and adornment furnish employment to many labor- ers. There are also oil and paper factories. The trade in all these articles, and in wine, par- ticularly vino aanto, is very extensive, and there is a large amount of general commerce, Brescia being a centre of transportation by both rail and highway. Population, in 1804, 07,700: in 1901, 70,014. The inhaliitants of the ancient Brixia were allied with the Romans when Han- nibal crossed the Alps. It was destroyed by the Huns, but soon rebuilt, and afterwards passed through the hands of the Ostrogoths, the Lombards, Cliarlemagne, and the Germans. In 1428 it came into the possession of Venice, and at the beginning of the Sixteenth Century was one of the wealthiest cities of Lomliardy; b>it it 'never recovered its former importance after being sacked and burned in 1512 by the French under Gaston de Foix. In the rising of 1848 against Austria the citizens of Brescia took an active part, and after the battle of Custozza and the capitulation of Milan, shared the fate of other Lombard cities. In March, 1849, it was the only large city of Lombardy which re- belled, and, after the defeat of the Piedmontese at Novara, was bombarded and taken by Haynau, and had to pay an indemnity of over $1,200,000. In the War of 1859 it stood again by the side of Piedmont, and in 1800, with the rest of Lom- bardy, became a part of the Kingdom of Italy. BRESLAU, bres'lou (Pol. Wroclaina, also Wracislawiii, Braclaic, JMed. Lat. 'Wratislaria, from King Wraeislaw or Wratislaw). The capital of the Province of Silesia, Prussia, and third royal residence, situated at the conflu- ence of the Ohlau and Oder, about 200 miles southeast of Berlin, in latitude 51° 7' N. and longittide 17° 2' E. (Map: Prussia, G 3). The Oder divides it into two part,s, which are con- nected l)y niunerous handsome bridges. It con- sists of the inner or main town and five suburbs — called the Ohlau, Sand, Oder, Nikolai, and Schweidnitz suburbs. The ancient fortifications have been converted into beautiful ])romenadcs, and the moat has been transformed into an orna- mental sheet of water. The streets of the new l)ortion of Breslau are spacious and regular, and the houses stately and handsome, affording a pleasant contrast to the sombre, massive structures of the old town. The city has many churches, the most remarkable being the Protes- tant church dedicated to Saint Elizabeth, with a steeple 300 feet in height (the highest in Prussia) and a splendid organ, and the Roman Catholic Cathedral, founded in the Twelfth Cen- tury, containing many works of art in sculpture and painting. Among the other noteworthy buildings is the lately restored Rathaus, dating from the Fourteenth Century. Breslau is the largest and most important city of Prussia, after Berjin. Its proximity to the Russian frontier makes it a highly important trading centre in raw products. It holds three annual fairs, besides a number of special markets, e.g. in leather, horses, and cattle. Its posi- tion in the centre of the manufacturing districts of the province, and its railway connections with all the important cities, in addition to the facilities of communication which the Oder affords, increase still further its commer- cial importance. It has manufactures of linen, woolens, cotton, silks, lace, jewelry, machines, earthenware, soap, alum, starch, etc., and up- ward of one hundred distilleries, and a trade in corn, coal, metals, timber, hemp, and flax. The city is administered by a municipal council of 102 members, who elect an executive board of 27 for the ]>ractical administration of theuuinic- ipal affairs. (See Prussia, Local Govern- ment.) The municipality owns and operates two gas and two electric-lighting plants, supplying all public and private buildings. The water- works are also in the hands of the nuuiicipality. For local passenger traffic, the city has six rail- way lines, operated by electricity since 1901, as well as onuiibuses and small river steamers. These are in the hands of private companies, t'idike the majority of Gernutn cities, Breslau still imposes the burden of street-cleaning upon the property-owners. It has an excellent system
