Braun and Hogenberg – Los Palacios, Road from Cadiz to Sevilla
This engraving titled “Palacios” is a detailed 16th-century depiction of Los Palacios y Villafranca in Andalucia, Spain, from Civitates Orbis Terrarum, the monumental city atlas compiled by Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg between 1572 and 1617. The image has been cut from what was originally a three part map that included Alcantarilla, and Las Cabezas de San Juan, three towns situated along the historic route from Cádiz to Seville in southern Spain.
The text on the back offers a vivid historical account of the small town of Palacios located about five leagues from Seville. It highlights the town’s strategic location along the heavily traveled route between Cádiz and Seville, supported by a nearby ancient fortress. It emphasizes that while Palacios is agriculturally sustained and frequented by travelers, the routes in and out of it were notoriously difficult and hazardous, depending on the season.
12,5 x 43 cm, not framed.
Below, this print in a mockup to show how it might be presented framed (frame is not included).
Date of Publication: Between 1572 and 1617
Engraver: Frans Hogenberg
Braun & Hogenberg’s Civitates Orbis Terrarum (“Cities of the World”) is a monumental six-volume atlas of urban topography compiled between 1572 and 1617. Conceived as a companion to Ortelius’s Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, it was the first comprehensive printed collection of city views and maps ever produced. The work provides a rich visual record of over 500 cities from across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas during the late Renaissance, featuring detailed bird’s-eye views, cartouches, and depictions of local inhabitants, architecture, and dress. It reflects not only geographical interest but also the growing civic pride and commercial importance of cities in the early modern period.
Georg Braun (1541–1622), a cleric and scholar from Cologne, served as the principal editor and driving force behind the Civitates. He compiled texts for the city descriptions and coordinated contributions from a wide network of cartographers and artists. His aim was both didactic and celebratory: to showcase the beauty and significance of cities around the known world.
Frans Hogenberg (c. 1535–1590), a Flemish engraver and mapmaker, was responsible for many of the atlas’s intricate engravings. He had previously collaborated with Abraham Ortelius and brought both technical skill and artistic flair to the project. Hogenberg’s meticulous visual style was essential in defining the distinctive look of the Civitates plates.
Together, Braun and Hogenberg created a work that remains an invaluable source for historians, urban scholars, and collectors today.
The following text appears on the back of the map.
Transcription (French, 16th c. orthography):
PALACIOS.
Palentia vulgairement Palacios est une petite ville de l’Espagne Bétique ou Andalousie, au costé de laquelle est un chasteau fort antique situé à cinq lieues de Seville sur le chemin qui tire en l’isle de Calis & à Sainct Lucar. Les habitans s’entretiennent & se nourrissent du labourage, & du passage qui est fort fréquenté de ceux qui veulent aller à Labisse, par le bas chemin, à l’entour duquel ne sont que marécages, lieux humides & aquatiques qui durent cinq lieues, que les Espagnols appellent Marisima, si que en hyver on n’y sauroit passer, & est-on contraint de prendre le haut chemin du costé d’Alcatara & de Lubecas. Au contraire en esté le chemin est si couvert de poussière que l’on n’y peut bonnement aller, mais tout de mesme que les mariniers se munissent d’un compas, pour afin qu’ils puissent mieux tenir leur route, de mesme aussi il faut que ceux qui veulent aller par ce chemin icy, s’ils ne veulent mourir de soif (car ce n’est pas chose nouvelle d’y voir des passants gisans morts, estouffez de l’ardeur du soleil & de soif) de prendre du vin avec soy dans des bouteilles de cuir, & les pendre à l’arçon de la selle de leurs chevaux (les Espagnols appellent ces bouteilles Borateias) car sur le chemin qui dure cinq lieues on n’y trouve point d’hostellerie, ce lieu estant inhabitable, en hyver à cause de l’abondance des eaux, & en esté à cause de la trop grande ardeur du soleil, & partant ce lieu est tout desert & esfuche, voire il n’y a pas un seul arbre sous lequel on se puisse mettre à l’ombre pour se rafreschir.
Translation (Modern English):
PALACIOS.
Palentia, commonly called Palacios, is a small town in Baetican Spain or Andalusia, beside which there is a very old fortified castle located five leagues from Seville on the road leading to the island of Cádiz and to Sanlúcar. The inhabitants live and sustain themselves by farming and by the heavy traffic of travelers going to Lebrija, via the lower road, which is surrounded by nothing but marshes, wetlands, and aquatic areas that stretch for five leagues. The Spaniards call these “Marisma,” and in winter it is impassable, so one is forced to take the upper road through Alcántara and Lubecas.
On the other hand, in summer the lower road is so covered in dust that it is hardly passable. Just as sailors equip themselves with a compass to stay their course, those who want to travel this road must take wine with them in leather bottles (which the Spaniards call “Borateias”) and hang them from their saddles, if they do not wish to die of thirst—because it is not uncommon to see travelers lying dead, suffocated by the heat and thirst. Along this five-league stretch of road there is no inn, as the area is uninhabitable—impassable in winter due to the abundance of water, and in summer due to the extreme heat of the sun. The place is completely deserted and barren; there is not even a single tree under which one might find shade to cool off.