The Sigismund Plan of Moscow, 1618

The Sigismund Plan is the most detailed plan of Moscow from the period before Peter the Great. It shows the city within the bounds of today's Garden Ring, and its Latin title "Moscovia urbs metropolis totius Russiae Albae" means "Moscow, the capital city of all White Rus'".

The original appeared during the Russo-Polish War of 1609–1618 and was made for the Polish King Sigismund III, after whom the plan is named. It was compiled by Johann Gottfried Philipp Abelin and engraved in Augsburg by Lucas Kilian under the king's privilege; the engraving is dated 1610. Impressions of it are held by the State Historical Museum in Moscow and the National Library of Russia in St Petersburg. In 1618 the plan was re-engraved at a reduced size for the sixth volume of Georg Braun's atlas of cities, published in Cologne.

The sheet in the Museum of Moscow is a Cologne copper engraving of 1618 and thus apparently comes from that edition. It is trimmed at the top. In the upper left is the coat of arms of Sigismund III, and on the right the coat of arms of Moscow.

About the exhibit

Period
1618
Category
предметы печатной продукции
Materials and technique
бумага, гравюра на меди
Place of creation
Кельн
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