![]() Essentially, this is a roadmap (the earliest example of what would evolve into the modern roadmap) of the ancient Roman Empire, stretching out 22 feet wide and tracking all the public roads from the Atlantic Ocean to modern-day Sri Lanka. The version of this map on display at the Austrian National Library is not actually the original, which was created in the 4th or 5th century-but it’s a close second, a replica created in the 13th century by a monk. Tabula Peutingeriana – Austrian National Library, Vienna, Austria The map is available upon request, if it's not part of a traveling exhibition at the time. The rings also show moon phases, the months, zodiac signs, festivals, certain Sundays throughout the time period, and day length. Ten circles showing the dates of Easter for a 95-year period, from April 1, 1453, to April 10, 1547, surround the map itself. The Mappamundi could also be used as a sort of calendar. It was the first map of its time to show clearly defined shorelines of the Mediterranean and western Europe. Jerusalem is at the center of the map, which depicts the European view of the world during the Middle Ages. It was drawn in 1452 as one of only three world maps Venetian cartographer Giovanni Leardo drew and signed. This is the oldest world map in the collection at the American Geographical Society Library, a facility that has more than 1.3 million pieces in the archive. Mappamundi – American Geographical Society Library, Milwaukee, Wisconsin The Planisphere was stolen again in the mid-1800s and later found again now it’s on display in the Galleria Estense in Italy. It also has the first named depiction of the Antilles and potentially the first image of Florida’s lower coastline. Rather, it included several firsts for maps at the time: it was the first in history to include the Arctic Circle, the equator, the tropics, and the border between Portuguese and Spanish territories. But the important thing about this map is not that it was technically stolen goods. Though no one’s entirely sure exactly how Cantino acquired the map, we do know from historical records that he paid 12 gold ducats for it-a pretty substantial amount back then. It’s named after Alberto Cantino, an Italian who was an undercover spy for the Duke of Ferrara. This 1502 map, created by an unknown Portuguese mapmaker in Lisbon, was once the subject of international espionage. The Cantino Planisphere – Galleria Estense, Italy The map is accompanied by a cuneiform text describing Babylonian mythology in the regions depicted on the stone. Outside the ring, eight islands or regions are carved into the tablet. The carved map depicts Babylon in the center nearby are places like Assyria and Elam, all surrounded by a “Salt Sea” forming a ring around the cities. It dates back to between 700 and 500 BC and was found in a town called Sippar in Iraq. It is currently on display at the British Museum in London. More commonly known as the Babylonian Map of the World, the Imago Mundi is considered the oldest surviving world map. The Imago Mundi, or Babylonian Map of the World. We’re not sure if any fake towns appear on the maps below, but here are six of the world's oldest or first of their kind that you can go see today. The oldest known maps began to appear in about 2,300 B.C.E., carved into stone tablets. It then reappeared on maps produced by Rand McNally when mapmakers for the company found someone had started a business at the exact spot of the fictitious Agloe and named it the Agloe General Store-thereby making the town “real.”įake towns are a relatively recent invention in the overall history of maps, though. The first fake town to appear was Agloe, New York, which appeared in the 1930s on a map by the General Drafting Co. But if a fake town was spotted in a competitor's map, it was easy to prove copyright infringement. Forgery was a big problem, and the practice of copying and profiting off maps created by someone else was common. Not to screw up travelers trying to navigate, but to catch copycats. ![]() Back when mapmaking was still a fledgling profession in the U.S., cartographers had a trick up their sleeves: they would insert fake towns into the maps they drew.
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