1560 The Island of Crete Della Grecia Candia seu Creta Insula

This fascinating map of the island of Crete was published in an Italian edition of Sebastian Munster’s atlas, Geographia. The woodcut map is set within a page of text describing the island, its size, its cities and civilizations, along with various historical and legendary accounts. It is a fascinating map which rewards time spent studying its miniscule details. The island is depicted as nearly completely covered by mountains. Major cities are denoted with some toponyms in Latin and others in Italian, with cities depicted in miniature pictorial vignettes. The ancient harbor and port city of Heracleum is labeled on the map as Candia, the name assigned it following the purchase of the island by the autonomous Venetian Republic in 1204. Just off the southern coast of the island is a scroll shaped cartouche containing the inscription in Latin ‘Hic supra est Labyrinthus’ meaning ‘Above is the Labyrinth’ referring to the ancient legend of the complex maze at Knossos. Designed by Daedalus fo