@themaphouse

Early copper-engraved plan of Edinburgh from the very first atlas dedicated solely to city plans, title "Civitates Orbis Terrarum" [Cities of the World]. This handsome 16th Century bird's eye view shows the city from the south. Edinburgh Castle in the west overlooks the city and is named Castrum puellarum [Maidens' Castle]. The horizontal thoroughfare from the Castle to the gates of the city wall is what is now the Royal Mile. Four figures meet in the foreground of the map and are shown in traditional dress. Cartographically it is based on a map first published by Raphael Hollinshed in his famous Chronicles in 1577. The actual map depicts the Siege of Edinburgh of 1571-3 with the besiegers supporting Elizabeth I and the defenders supporting Mary Queen of Scots. Overall, the Chronicles were a major influence on several important playwrights of the age, particularly William Shakespeare. Between 1572 and 1618, Georg Braun (1541-1622) and Frans Hogenberg (1535-1590) produced six volumes of the Civitates Orbis Terrarum, comprising over five hundred city views and plans. Though city plans had been included in earlier atlases, no previous work had been devoted solely to the depiction of the known cities of the world. Nor was the Civitates entirely Eurocentric: it also included famous plans of Mexico City, Cuzco, Goa, Calicut, and many other African and Asian cities. Each volume was originally published with Latin text. Volumes 1 and 2 were the most popular and were reissued several times to meet growing demand. Editions were also published with German and French text rather than Latin. Many of the maps feature costumed figures in the foreground of the scene, making this an important record of contemporary dress and behaviour as well as geography. #edinburgh #scotland #scottish #maps #raremaps #antiquemaps #mapping #cityplans #citybreak #destination #destinationwedding

Beautiful 1895 Japanese wood-block city plan of Tokyo from the Meiji period. The brightly coloured map is surrounded by intricate vignettes of important landmarks and portraits of the Emperor and Empress. #tokyo #japan #maps #map #woodcutprint #antiquemaps #mapping #cityplans #meiji #meijiperiod

Luciano Delage Villegas's 1910 city plan of Madrid aimed at the newly burgeoning tourist sector.  This large, brightly coloured city plan was issued in Barcelona by the Editorial Martin. The credited map maker is Luciano Delage Villegas with assistance from Eugenio Bisbal and Juan Vasallo. A cartouche on the map labels this map as being for tourists and colour codes it into the various districts of the city. A key on the lower right identifies post offices, government buildings and tram tracks #madrid #spain #espagne #destination #holiday #cityplans #citymaps #mapping #maps