Ogilby, John. Nova Mexico. London: T. Johnson, 1671.

John Ogilby

Nova Mexico

London: T. Johnson, 1671

15 1/2 x 22 1/2 inches

Highly detailed oversized view Mexico City, from the 1671 edition of John Ogilby's America, one of the most influential works of the 17th Century.

This sweeping panorama of Mexico City was the first published view to identify Tenochtitlan as Mexico City. The view is one of the most important views of the great metropolis as it was in the sixteenth century. Every building and road is carefully mapped out and identified, giving the viewer a true picture of this thriving Spanish colony. A key at the bottom identifies the most important features and buildings.

The Aztec metropolis of Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325 in the center of a large lake. By 1500, it was one of the largest cities in the world, with broad avenues, magnificent temples, bridges, sluices and public marketplaces. Hernan Cortes first laid eyes of Tenochtitlan in 1519 and was immediately mesmerized by the city's size and grandeur. After years of fierce battle, Cortes conquered the city in August of 1521, and renamed it Mexico City.

Mexico City became the center of political and economic power in New Spain and one of the most important cities in the New World. The Spanish set about rebuilding the city, by draining the western shore of the lake and making the city a peninsula rather than an island.From Montanus'