BASEL, or BALE, the capital of the above province, is situated on both sides of the Rhine, 43 miles north of Berne, in Lat. 47. 33. 36. N. Long. 7. 35. 35. E. Great Basel, or that portion of the city which lies on the south side of the river, is connected with Little Basel on the opposite side by a handsome stone bridge 600 feet long. Its ancient fortifications are still in a good state of preservation, and the town is generally well built; but the streets are narrow, and it has few public edifices worthy of notice. The cathedral is a fine old Gothic edifice, founded about the beginning of the eleventh century, and contains the tombs of Erasmus, Ecolampadius, and other eminent persons.
Besides the university, which was founded by Pope Pius II. in 1459, Basel possesses an extensive public library, containing a valuable collection of MSS., a picture gallery, a museum, gymnasium, botanical garden, an orphan asylum and institution for deaf mutes, a theological institute, &c. It is the seat of an active transit trade between France, Germany, and Switzerland; and it has important manufactures of silk, linen, cotton, leather, paper, &c. Basel was the seat of a great council from 1431 to 1448; and here, in 1795, France concluded a treaty with Prussia and with Spain. It is connected by railway with Strasburg, from which it is 60 miles distant. Pop. 24,000. Basel was the birthplace of Euler, Holbein, and Bernoulli.