The Jewish burying ground is a curiosity for a person who has never visited
the Oriental countries. The tombstones are stowed thick together. Everybody
recollects the anecdote of the ingenious method adopted by Joseph II for
squeezing a large sum of money from the Jews of Prague, by giving out that
he intended to claim this cemetery, in order to build therein a Palace. The
Jews who, like all the Orientals, have the most profound veneration for the
spot where their ancestors are buried, presented a large sum of money to
the Emperor, to induce him to renounce his design.
The _Stadt-Haus_ (Hotel de Ville) is a fine building; and the _Marktplatz_
(market square) is very spacious, and contributes much to the beauty of the
town. In the centre of it stands an ancient fountain of a dodecagonal form.
The basin is of red marble, and near it stands a large stone column, with a
statue of the Virgin, bronze gilt, on its summit. A well supplied market,
or rather fair, is carried on here every day in the week. The Theatre is a
fine building and is of immense size. I witnessd the representation of a
burlesque tragedy called _Die Belagerung von Ypsilon_ (the siege of
Ypsilon), but I could not at all comprehend the cream of the jest.
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