MINSK, 28 February (BelTA) – The Nesvizh open-air museum is hosting a map exhibition “Belarus: base maps of the 16th-17th centuries”, BelTA learnt from the museum.
The event is held as part of the national campaign “Nesvizh is Belarus’ 2012 capital of culture”. Originals and digital copies are presented at the exposition. The whole collection includes 15 maps but the most interesting of them is a map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania of 1613. This is the first large-scale map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the so called Radziwill’s map. One of the richest barons of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Nicholas Christopher Radziwill (Sirotka) was the initiator of its creation. The map was created in Nesvizh at the end of the 16th century – beginning of the 17th century.
The full version of the map consists of two parts: a map of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania itself and a map of the lower reach of the Dnepr with its rifts. All in all, 1,039 settlements are illustrated on the map, including 544 settlements in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, of which 342 on the territory of Belarus. All the names are in Latin, many of them provide historical and other data about settlements, etc.
The Radziwill’s map became an important step in the development of the European cartography and was the most popular source of information about the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the European cartography during two centuries.
The exhibition will stay open during two months.
The official opening ceremony of Nesvizh as Belarus’ 2012 capital of culture was held on 27 January. Nesvizh has become the third town after Polotsk and Gomel honored with such a status. All in all, about 50 events are scheduled to be held during the campaign, most of them will be organized with the participation of the Nesvizh open-air museum. These are theatrical forums, exhibitions, concerts, festivals, a holiday of arts, music projects presentations, etc.
|
