CONSTANCE (Costnitz), the capital of the Baden See-Kreis or Lake Circle, situated on the Swiss side of the Rhine, on a peninsula at the W. extremity of the Bodensee or Lake of Constance. It is an ancient town, and its population has fallen from 40,000 in the fifteenth century to 5300 in the present. Its fortifications consist of a wall flanked by towers, and one of its suburbs, that of Kreuzlingen, is defended by two bastions. The suburb of Petershausen, which was originally a free abbey of the empire, communicates with the city by means of a long covered wooden bridge raised on stone piers. The only other suburb, that of Brühl, contains the field in which Huss suffered martyrdom. The principal buildings of Constance are the minster, the old Dominican convent on the island of Genf, now a cotton-printing establishment, and the Kaufhaus or public mart, in the hall of which sat the famous council of Constance (1414-18). It contains also a lyceum, a hospital, a conventual school for females, and several museums. Constance is the seat of the circle and district governments, and has a considerable local trade. There are a few manufactures of cotton and silk stuffs; and a considerable proportion of the inhabitants are engaged in the fisheries and navigation of the lake.