Tenochtitlán, 1521 in 1550

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Old map of Distrito Federal, Mexico, Mexico City.

hand corner, along with parts of the name Santa Cruz, which is why the royal cosmographer in Seville, Alfonso de Santa Cruz (1505--67), long was thought to have been the cartographer. Later research indicates that the map was painted by a person from Tenochtitlán/Mexico City, probably an Aztec with European schooling. It is known that Santa Cruz never visited Mexico, and the construction and content of the map suggest that its maker was very familiar with the place and its inhabitants. The symbols on the map (heads, animals, rings, stars, and so forth) represent place-names in Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs. The map contains information about social and working life and animals and plants, thus providing both a geographical description and a rich picture of everyday life in 16th-century Mexico City. The frame consists of ornamental foliage painted in blue on a red background. Roads and canals are marked in brown and light blue. How the map came to Sweden is not known. One theory is that Swedish linguist and traveler Johan Gabriel Sparwenfeld purchased it during his stay in Spain in the late 17th century and that it later was donated to the Uppsala University Library.

• Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
• Original resource extent: 1 map, 75 x 144 centimeters, hand-painting on two joined pieces of parchment.
• Original resource at: Uppsala University Library.
• Content in Latin and Classical Nahuatl and Spanish.
• Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.