Moscovia

Title

Moscovia

The map shows the city of Moscow from a bird's-eye view. A magnificent depiction of all the important buildings, with the Moskva River in the foreground. Additionally, in the foreground, there are several figurative staffages, and in the top left corner, a coat of arms. At the bottom right, there is a cartouche with Latin text (translated: Moscow, the capital of the eponymous region, is twice as large as Prague in Bohemia. It has wooden houses and many, but scattered streets with large gaps. The Moskva waters the city). The reverse side contains a comment from Braun: 'However, due to its size, the city does not have a proper endpoint, nor is it sufficiently fortified with walls, ditches, or ramparts; instead, the streets are blocked at several points with toll gates. At dusk, a strong guard is posted there, so that after a certain hour, no one can pass through...'.

ca. 1595

Artist

Braun/Hogenberg (1572-1618)

Frans Hogenberg (1535 – 1590) was a Flemish and German painter, engraver, and mapmaker. Hogenberg was born in Mechelen as the son of Nicolaas Hogenberg In 1568 he was banned from Antwerp by the Duke of Alva. He travelled to London, where he stayed a few years before emigrating to Cologne. He is known for portraits and topographical views as well as historical allegories. He also produced scenes of contemporary historical events. George Braun (1541-1622), a cleric of Cologne, was the principal editor of the "Civitates Orbis Terrarum". The first volume of the Civitates Orbis Terrarum was published in Cologne in 1572. The sixth and the final volume appeared in 1617. This great city atlas, edited by Georg Braun and largely engraved by Franz Hogenberg, eventually contained 546 prospects, bird-eye views and map views of cities from all over the world. Braun (1541-1622), a cleric of Cologne, was the principal editor of the work, and was greatly assisted in his project by the close, and continued interest of Abraham Ortelius, whose Theatrum Orbis Terrarum of 1570 was, as a systematic and comprehensive collection of maps of uniform style, the first true atlas.

Historical Description

Moscow is the major political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as the largest city entirely on the European continent. Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia, making it Europe's most populated inland city. The earliest East Slavic tribes recorded as having expanded to the upper Volga in the 9th to 10th centuries are the Vyatichi and Krivichi. The Moskva River was incorporated as part of Kievan Rus into the Suzdal in the 11th century. The timber fort na Moskvě "on the Moscow River" was inherited by Daniel, the youngest son of Alexander Nevsky, in the 1260s, at the time considered the least valuable of his father's possessions. Daniel ruled Moscow as Grand Duke until 1303 and established it as a prosperous city that would eclipse its parent principality of Vladimir by the 1320s. On the right bank of the Moskva River, at a distance of five miles from the Kremlin, not later than in 1282, Daniel founded the first monastery with the wooden church of St. Daniel-Stylite. Now it is the Danilov Monastery. Daniel died in 1303, at the age of 42. Before his death, he became a monk and, according to his will, was buried in the cemetery of the St. Daniel Monastery. Moscow was stable and prosperous for many years and attracted a large number of refugees from across Russia. While Khan of the Golden Horde initially attempted to limit Moscow's influence, when the growth of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania began to threaten all of Russia, the Khan strengthened Moscow to counterbalance Lithuania, allowing it to become one of the most powerful cities in Russia. The original Moscow Kremlin was built during the 14th century. The entire city of the late 17th century, including the slobodas that grew up outside the city ramparts, are contained within what is today Moscow's Central Administrative Okrug.