Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg, Palermo, 1599

Plan of the City of Palermo, on the Island of Sicily

This birds-eye view plan of the city of Palermo, Sicily shows in detail the town with its streets, places, churches and squares. Decorated with coats of arms, and title cartouches. From Braun & Hogenberg’s Civitates Orbis Terrarum, the most important book of town plans and views published in the 16th century.

The port city is seen here from the northeast. Situated in a fertile plain in the midst of lemon and orange groves, it is secured against attack by what were then state-of-the-art fortifications. Palermo is represented as a major port, with the Old Town harbor and the large new port, in which galleys lie at anchor, their oars in a stationary position. Founded by the Phoenicians and conquered by the Arabs, Palermo was one of the world’s largest cities from the 10th to the 11th century. Apart from a maze of alleys, no trace of Arab rule remains. After the Norman conquest (1072) the city flourished in the 12th century as the capital of the Kingdom of Sicily and experienced its heyday under Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor. The 9th-century summer seat of the Emir of Palermo was converted into the Norman palace (72) in the 12th century. Palermo then diminished in importance under changing rule. Today it is the capital of the Italian province and autonomous region of Sicily. (Taschen)