The Largest Known World Map of the 16th Century Assembled

For the first time, the largest known world map of the 16th Century has been assembled. It is made up of 60 individual sheets and was created by Urbano Monte in 1587. When it is assembled, it is more than nine feet by nine feet. For 430 years, the sheets were bound together as an atlas, but thanks to digital technology, they have finally been put together as Monte envisioned. The map is full of fantastical creatures, like unicorns in Siberia and mermen in the Southern Ocean, and represents the knowledge and misconceptions of the time.

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