Long before 1492, great civilizations rose and declined in the Americas, completely unknown to the rest of the world. One of the earliest was the Maya, which reached its height between AD 300 and 900, a period that included the end of the Roman Empire and the beginning of the Middle Ages in Europe.
The Aztec of Mexico and the Inca of Peru flourished during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and early sixteenth centuries before being destroyed by the Spanish conquistadors. These and other civilizations built sophisticated and complex cities comparable to urban centers in other parts of the world at that time. They included large stone buildings, such as temples, athletic facilities, and large spaces for public ceremonies.
This section compares views of two Native American cities, the Inca capital, Cusco, and the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán (now Mexico City), with fifteenth- and sixteenth-century urban centers from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.
“Venecie” from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg.
Théâtre du cites du monde. [Brussels?: 1576?–1620?].
Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress (7C.2)
Early Spanish explorers compared the Aztec capital city, Tenochtitlán (now Mexico City) to the Italian city Venice, also a place of impressive buildings constructed on islands connected by canals. Favorably located for handling trade between East and West, the Venetian Republic became a major sea power and one of the most prosperous cities in Europe in the fifteenth century. This 1493 view of Venice from the “Nuremberg Chronicle,” an illustrated history of the earth from creation through the fifteenth century, depicts the palace of the doge (duke), St. Mark’s Basilica, the Campanile (bell tower), and other landmarks that still look much the same.
“Corduba,” from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg.
Théâtre du cites du monde. [Brussels?: 1576?–1620?].
Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress (7E.1)
Between the eighth and fifteenth centuries, Muslims called “Moors” ruled parts of what is now Spain. Córdoba became the thriving capital of the Caliphate of Córdoba that governed almost all the Iberian Peninsula. In the tenth century, Córdoba was one of the largest cities in Western Europe. The city was conquered by Christian forces under Ferdinand III, King of Castille and Leon, in 1236. The two most important buildings from the Moorish period visible in this view are the Alcazar (Palatium Regium), where Christopher Columbus received royal backing from Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castille for his voyage to the Americas in 1492, and the Mezquita (Ecclesia Maior), formerly the Aljama Mosque, remodeled as a cathedral in the early sixteenth century.
“Roma,” from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg.
Théâtre du cites du monde.
[Brussels?: 1576?—1620?].
Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress (7D.3)
Headquarters of the Roman Empire, and later of the papacy, which made it a center of Renaissance culture, Rome has played a major role in European history. This highly detailed view of sixteenth-century Rome depicts its many ancient ruins, churches, towers, walls, and palaces. Such familiar landmarks as the Colosseum, Pantheon, Castel St. Angelo, and Trajan's Column are clearly visible and keyed with numbers to a legend at the bottom of the map. The Vatican area, however, has changed greatly since this view was made. The present St. Peter's Basilica was begun in 1506 but not completed until 1626.
Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg. “Mexico, regia et celebris Hispaniae novae civitas (Mexico, regal and reknowned state of New Spain)” and “Cusco, regni Peru in novo orbe caput (Cusco, capitol of the kingdom of Peru in the New World)” in Civitates Orbis Terrarum. (Commonwealths of the world)
Cologne: T. Graminaeus, 1572.
Jay I. Kislak Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress (5)
Civitates Orbis Terrarum, the first systematic city atlas, depicts cities from around the world, including these two in the Americas. The view of Tenochtitlán, the Aztec capital (site of the present Mexico City) that astonished the conquistadors when they first saw it, is based on a map in the letters of Hernán Cortés (1485–1547) published in 1524.
Important sites are included, such as the marketplace, the sacrificial temple, and palace of Moctezuma. The view is paired with one of Cusco, Peru, the capital city of the Inca Empire. The representation of Cusco shows the square bordered by the Inca palace, the great temple and the homes of senior dignitaries, from which four roads led to the most remote corners of the Inca empire. Dignitaries of the respective empires are depicted in the foreground of each view.
Jin ling tu yong (The city of Nanjing in 1400).
Nanjing: Zhu Zhifan, 1624.
Rare Book Collection, Asian Division, Library of Congress (7A)
Nanjing, the capital of China’s present Jiangsu Province, has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. One of the earliest cities established in eastern China (by legend dating to 495 BC), it served as the country's capital during several periods. Zhu Yuanzhang (b. 1328, reigned 1368-1398), the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, re-established Nanjing as the capital of China in 1368. The city is believed to have been the world’s largest between 1358 and 1425. In 1400, when Nanjing looked as depicted in this image, the population was 487,000. In 1420, the third Ming emperor moved the capital of China from Nanjing to Beijing.
“Byzantium, nunc Constantinopolis” (Byzantium, now Constantinople) from Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg.
Théâtre du cites du monde. [Brussels?: 1576?–1620?].
Geography and Map Division, Library of Congress (7E.2)
In its long history, Istanbul (earlier known as Byzantium and Constantinople) has been the capital of the Roman, the Byzantine, the Latin (established by Crusaders who sacked the city), and the Ottoman empires. Under Sultan Mehmed II (b. 1432, reigned 1444–1446 and 1451–1481), who conquered the city, and his great-grandson, Suleiman the Magnificent (b. 1494, reigned 1520–1566), the city was transformed by new palaces and mosques. Suleiman made the Ottoman Empire one of the world’s foremost powers, with Istanbul as its cultural center. This image from the sixteenth century, the golden age of the Ottoman empire, provides a valuable record of Istanbul’s appearance at that time.
Réné Caillié. “View of the City of Timbuctoo” from Travels through Central Africa to Timbuctoo and across the Great Desert to Morocco, performed in the years 1824–1828. vol 2.
London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, 1830.
General Collections, Library of Congress (7F)
Timbuktu, Mali, long a trading center linking West Africa with merchants throughout North Africa, and thereby indirectly with European traders, achieved fabled status in Europe, becoming a metaphor for exotic, distant lands. Frenchman Réné Caillié (1799–1838), the first European to visit Timbuktu and return, made this drawing of the city in 1828. In order to reach Timbuktu, Caillié learned Arabic and disguised himself as a Muslim. His feat earned him a prize for gaining exact information about Timbuktu, the Legion of Honor, a pension, and other distinctions. His illustrated travel journal was published by the French government in 1830.