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On the Trail of Old Maps

Historical Overview of the Velebit Channel and the Northern Adriatic

Grb Karlobaga
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The Story of Maps: How We Drew the World

Until the 15th century, Europeans lived in a world "locked" in visions of the past. Imagine a medieval scholar: before him is a map that looks more like a prayer book than a navigation tool. On these maps (known as Mappa Mundi), Jerusalem was at the center, Paradise was at the top, and the edges of the world were inhabited by mythical creatures.

The Return of Ptolemy

The turning point came during the Renaissance, when a long-forgotten 2nd-century manuscript—Ptolemy's "Geography"—was brought to Italy. Although Claudius Ptolemy lived in the 2nd century AD (c. 100–170 AD), he was the first to give the world a "grid." He introduced meridians and parallels, bringing scientific discipline to cartography. However, there was a problem: Ptolemy believed the Earth was smaller than it actually is and was unaware of America's existence. He drew the Indian Ocean as a landlocked sea and connected Africa to an imaginary southern continent. Living in Alexandria, he never saw the Adriatic coast. Therefore, the first Renaissance maps of our continent, though revolutionary, were full of unusual distortions and errors that were copied for decades.

The Era of Great Corrections

When Columbus, Magellan, and Vasco da Gama set out on their voyages, they brought back news that shocked the cartographers of the time. Maps had to "breathe." The period from 1500 to 1600 was the most exciting time in the history of cartography—it was the era of great revisions.

Cartographers were no longer just transcribers of ancient texts; they became "editors" of reality. They would take Ptolemy's old map and, like patches, add the new coasts of Brazil, the Caribbean, and Africa. Each new map was a step further away from antiquity.

The Turning Point: The Year 1600

Around 1600, the center of power shifted to Amsterdam. The Netherlands became the "world's printing house." During this time, maps became weapons and capital. Whoever possessed an accurate map held the path to spices, gold, and power.

This period saw the creation of atlases by Abraham Ortelius and Gerardus Mercator. They did something revolutionary: they acknowledged that Ptolemy was a genius, but that he was wrong. Mercator created a projection that allowed sailors to draw a straight line on a map and reach their destination. It was the definitive end of ancient dominance and the beginning of the modern era.

From Monsters to Science

On maps dating up to 1600, you often see sea monsters devouring ships in unknown waters. They weren't there just for decoration—they filled the "void" in knowledge and the fear of the unknown. As we approached the 17th century, the monsters slowly disappeared, replaced by precise numbers, depths, and astronomical measurements.

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