Heraklion, Antique Map from "Civitates Orbis Terrarum"

Braun G., Hogenberg F. ,  Candia , ( Heraklion , Crete) from the collection Civitates Orbis Terrarum , Cologne, T. Graminaeus, 1572-1617.

Very fine B/W aquatint  showing a view of Heraklion  (formerly Candia), located on the north coast of Crete. Back in the  Minoan Bronze Age , the city was named Heraklion because - according to the legend - it was here that Heracles captured the Minotaur.    Very good conditions, with a usual medial fold with a lightly browned paper, signs of time on the margins. 

The Civitates Orbis Terrarum  ( Atlas of the Cities of the World ) was the second oldest printed atlas in the history of world cartography and the first atlas totally dedicated to topographical views . The first volume of this collection was published in Cologne in 1572; the following in 1575, 1581, 1588, and 1598. The sixth and final volume appeared in 1617, some time before the extensive devastation caused by the Thirty Years’ War.