Maps of Mexico

Five maps from the 16th– 18th centuries presenting the various parts of Mexico’s cities, regions, and landscapes. This broadly based compendium of historic maps offers the unique opportunity to immerse oneself in the history of Mexico since its 16th century conquest and settlement by Europeans. Numerous changes, whether regarding newly-founded cities or military armament, formed the geographic image of the land during this epoch. A marvelous variety of historical, geographically exact, and artistically impressive maps of Mexico!

Mexico in Focus

The five maps presented together here are all stored in the Archivo de Indias in Seville. This archive is devoted to the collection of historic documents relating to the Americas since their discovery by Europeans. The Maps of Mexico represent an important aspect thereof.
It is a compendium of five maps that is supposed to present the variety of the collection of the Archivo de Indias. The five maps originate from various times – ranging from the 16th to the 18th centuries – and from various locations. They offer five completely different glimpses of historic Mexico in this way!

Technically Perfect and Artistically Impressive

The Maps of Mexico are sometimes designed with exuberant color, sometimes they are laid out in a gorgeously schematic fashion. Nonetheless, they remain extremely interesting both historically and scientifically, and not only for connoisseurs of cartography. The maps are all of the highest quality both with regard to their artistic execution as well as their informative content. The individual maps present information, inter alia, about the founding of new locales and religious institutions, of military and civilian buildings, and about expeditions exploring still-uncharted regions. Most of the latter was achieved with the permission of the capital and was documented – per the instructions of the Spanish Crown – after their successful completion, wherefore the maps served.

Five Aspects of Mexico’s Geography

The compendium is comprised of five maps: first, a map of the locality of Tetela de Ocampo from the year 1581. This 44.3 x 70.3 cm map was made for the captain don Crstóbal Godínez y Maldonado. The depiction shows multiple settlements, each with a larger building, which is identifiable as a church thanks to a cross. Decorative people round out the simultaneously informative and representative picture. Next comes a plan of Antequera from the year 1771. This map, measuring 41 x 30.2 cm, shows a view of the city in the Oaxaca valley, and was presumably finished before the occasion of the cathedral’s consecration. Marvelous colors adorn the technically accurate view, whereby the focus of the depiction lays naturally on the church buildings, which are specially marked in the map. A map of New Galicia from the year 1550 enriches the compendium with a real treasure. It is one of the oldest maps of Guadalajara. A map of Guanajuato from the 18th century presents itself as a typically schematic depiction of that time. Finally, the Maps of Mexico contains one more treasure of Mexican history: the panoramic view of the city of Salto de Agua Chiapas from the year 1795!