Clarissimae ciuitatis Geneuensis…[Geneva, Switzerland]

Nice 16th-century view of the Swiss city of Geneva.

This incredible woodcut view shows a broad area around Geneva, Switzerland from the second half of the 16th century. The image is oriented with north at the bottom, with Lake Lemanus in the foreground and the confluence of the Arve and Rhone rivers in the background. The fortified city is divided into two sections and surrounded by steep rolling hills. Important landmarks are individually labeled throughout the image, including the churches of St. Pierre and St. Germain.

When the view was originally created, Geneva was the center of John Calvin’s Protestant reforms and established itself as an independent Republic just a few decades prior. The map was published by Heinrich Petri in Basel as part of Sebastian Munster’s Cosmographia in 1572 (originally issued in 1550). Latin text at the bottom refers to François Bonivard, a Genevan Protestant nobleman who may have been Munster’s source for the view.