Beautiful oil-paintings, in tasteful gold frames, ornament the plafond; but the magnificent chandelier is the greatest curiosity.

It looks so massively worked in bronze, that it is painful to see the heavy mass hang so loosely over the heads of the spectators.

But it is only a delusion; for it is made of paste-board, and bronzed over.
Innumerable lamps light the place; but one thing which I miss in such elegant modern theatres is a clock, which has a place in nearly every Italian theatre.
The other buildings on this square are also distinguished for their size and the beauty of their architecture.
An unusually broad stone bridge, with a finely-made iron balustrade, is built over a little arm of the Spree, and unites the square of the opera with that on which the palace stands.
The royal museum is one of the finest architectural piles, and its high portal is covered with beautiful frescoes.

The picture-gallery contains many _chefs-d'oeuvre_; and I regretted that I had not more time to examine it and the hall of antiquities, having only three hours for the two.
From the academy runs a long street lined with lime-trees, and which is therefore called Under-the-limes (_unter den Linden_).

This alley forms a cheerful walk to the Brandenburg-gate, beyond which the pleasure-gardens are situated.