Photograph from Underwood & Underwood 



the: old capital, op a new nation : Prague, czecho-slavia 



The Royal Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral. The palace was begun in 1344, and the first 

 stone was laid by Charles IV. It has 711 apartments and three grand halls. It was the home 

 of Bohemia's own rulers from medieval times until 1620, when the kingdom was crushed by 

 allied armies in the battle of Bila Hora (White Hill), a plateau on the outskirts of the city, 

 Since that battle the Czechs in Bohemia have sought continually to regain their freedom. 

 In the open and in secret they have never ceased to agitate their cause. It was in the city 

 of Prague that, sixty years ago, the Sokol, or Gymnastic Association, was started, with the 

 secret purpose of some day throwing off the Austrian yoke (see illustration, page 488), 



487 



