LUCERNE, the chief town of the above canton, lies at the N.W. extremity of the Lake of Lucerne, at the point where the River Reuss, which divides the city, issues forth from the lake. It is exceedingly picturesque, and is walled in towards the land, and surrounded by a series of watch-towers, erected in 1385. Its chief peculiarity, however, is its covered bridges which span the Reuss, and are ingeniously ornamented with curious pictures. The lowest, or Mill Bridge, is hung with paintings, now nearly obliterated, of the "Dance of Death;" the upper, or Kapellbrücke, has 77 pictures suspended from its timbers, illustrative, on the one side, of the pious acts of the patron saints of the place, and, on the other, of memorable incidents in Swiss history. The longest bridge, the Hofbrücke, was removed in 1852, and the only uncovered one is Reussbrücke, which is passable for carriages. The town is clean and well built, and is situated amid exquisitely beautiful scenery, on the margin of the finest of the Swiss lakes, between the magnificent heights of Pilate and Rigi. Its principal public buildings are—a cathedral, an Ursuline convent, a town-hall, an arsenal with ancient armour and trophies taken at Sempach, &c., a
large town hospital, a poor-house, an orphan asylum, a jail, and a theatre. It has a lyceum with 14 professors, to which an excellent public school is attached. The educational establishments of Lucerne are highly spoken of for their efficiency. The most interesting monument connected with the place is that in a garden outside the city walls, erected to the Swiss guards, who fell at Paris in 1792, while defending the Tuileries. It was designed by Thorwaldsen, and executed by Ahorn of Constance. "It represents a lion of colossal size, wounded to death, with a spear sticking in his side, yet endeavouring in his last gasp to protect from injury a shield bearing the fleur-de-lis of the Bourbons, which he holds in his paws. The figure, hewn out of the living sandstone rock, is 28 feet long and 18 high; and whether as a tribute to fallen valour, or as a work of art of admirable design and no mean execution, it merits the highest praise" (Murray's Hand-book). Lucerne is not a place of any considerable manufactures; the chief are cabinet-work, and silk and cotton fabrics. It has some transit trade, however, and it finds a market for its principal fabrics in Italy. There is a railway nearly open to Aarberg on the road to Basle. Pop. 10,068, of whom 300 are Protestants.