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Antique maps > europe > switzerland > Antique map - bird's-eye plan of Zürich by Braun and Hogenberg

Zurych - Tigurum, sive Turegum, Caesari, ut Plerique Existimant, Tigurinus Pagus, vulgo Zurych, Urbs in Helvetijs - Braun & Hogenberg, 1581-88.



Antique map - bird's-eye plan of Zürich by Braun and Hogenberg.

TRANSLATION CARTOUCHE TEXT: Tigurum, or called Turegum by Caesar; in the opinion of the majority Tigurinus Pagus, in German Zurich; one of the oldest, largest and most famous of Swiss cities.

COMMENTARY BY BRAUN (on verso): Zurich is one of the oldest cities in Switzerland, built only 16 years after Trier. [...] In the year 1351 the people of Zurich forged an alliance with those of Uri and Schwyz. Readers will learn more about the city from Sebastian Münster, Johannes Stumpff, Josias Simmler, a citizen from Zurich, and from ancient and modern authors, including the most famous geographer of our times, Abraham Ortelius, in his atlas of the world.

The engraving clearly shows the two halves of Zurich, separated by the Limmat, and the bridges that link them. The edge of Lake Zurich can be recognized in the lower right-hand corner. In the foreground lies the Old Town, with on the right the twin-towered Romanesque and Gothic Fraumünster, a former Benedictine nunnery, and further left the church of St Peter with a single tower. On a rise in the left half of the picture, lime trees mark the Lindenhof, originally the site of Roman fort and subsequently, in the 9th century, an imperial palace. On the far side of the Limmat, the Wasserkirche lies directly on the river, with behind the Romanesque Grossmünster and on the left the Predigerkirche. The engraving shows the full city wall with its numerous towers, which no longer survive in this form. (Taschen)

Copper engraving
Size: 36.5 x 48.5cm (14.2 x 18.9 inches)
Verso text: Latin
Condition: Superb old colour, excellent.
Condition Rating: A+
References: Van der Krogt 4, 4959; Taschen, Braun and Hogenberg, p.249.

From: Civitates Orbis Terrarum. . Liber tertius. Köln, G. Kempen, 1581-88. (Koeman, B&H3)

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Item number: 23325
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