A Sixteenth-Century Draft Plan of Lisbon’s Western Suburb

The National Library of Brazil has in its cartographic collection a little-known late sixteenth century ichnographic plan of Lisbon, Portugal, showing the city’s western extramural suburb. In this article the unfinished draft plan is analysed for what it reveals of the mapmakers’ surveying methods. Comparison of the plan with other historical sources suggests that it was produced by Giovanni Vincenzo Casale and Alexandre Massai for military purposes between 1590 and 1597. This makes it the oldest ichnographic plan of Lisbon known to date, replacing the better known ichnographic plan of Lisbon signed by João Nunes Tinoco in 1650.