This _Brandenburger Thor_ is constructed after the
model of the Propylaeum of Athens.
The Opera House, a building in the Grecian taste erected by Frederic the
Great with the inscription _Apollini et Musis_, and after that the Academy
of the Fine Arts engaged my attention. Both these buildings are remarkable,
and they are near the _Linden_. The old town is much intersected by canals
communicating with the Spree which divides it. I call it the old town, to
distinguish it from the quarter composed of streets of recent construction
between the former _enceinte_ of the town and the Brandenburger Thor. The
Hotel of the Invalides, a ponderous building, bears the following
inscription: _Laesis non victis_. The Bank and the Arsenal next engaged my
attention, as also a Guard House of recent construction in the shape of a
Doric temple. The Royal Palace is an immense building, partly in the Gothic
and partly in the Grecian style. It is very heavy but imposing. The
interior of this Palace is royally fitted up, except the little room
occupied by the great Frederic, which is left in the same state as when he
occupied it; and you know he was not fond of superfluous ornament.
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