• Leopol City Plan the Capital of Red Russ with Neighbouring Towns 2

Leopol City Plan the Capital of Red Russ with Neighbouring Towns

Map

ID:
34395
Place
Lviv
Date:
1770
Collection
Austrian National Library
Source
ALB Port 196,12 Kar
Copyright
Austrian National Library, Vienna
Description

The plan is a schematic depiction of Lviv and its environs. It shows the condition of city construction with the contemporary fortifications of the central part of the city, sacred objects, and palaces.

The plan provides no date. The legend and the graphic depiction of the city are similar to the ones performed by Jean Doetch on his 1770 plan, which permits us to make suppositions about the date of the present plan.

The plan was executed by Charles de Scheffer, junior lieutenant of the First Carabiniers Regiment.

Legend:

  • The map's name is provided in the upper right corner: "Plan of the city of Leopole, capital of the Red Rus, with surrounding towns" (PLAN DE LA VILLE DE LEOPOLE CAPI[T]ALE DE LA RUSSI ROUGE AVEC [L]ES FEAUXBOURGS). Below this is the measurement line with the inscription "L[']ECHELLE DE 200 AUNE"
  • Information about the author of the map is provided under the name and measurement line in the upper right corner: "Copied by Charles de Scheffer, junior lieutenant of the First Musketeer Regiment" (COPIEE PAR CHARLES DE SCHEFFER Sous Lieutenant du Premier Regiment des Carabiniers).
  • Surrounding the map is the inscription "PAROISSE DE SAINT PIERRE PAROISSE DE SAINT MARC PAROISSE DE SAI[NTE] MAGDELAINE PAROISS[E] DE SAINTE MARIE".
  • The orientation symbol (wind rose) is provided at the top of the plan.
  • The upper left corner holds the inscription: "EXPLI, DES NOMBERS". Under this inscription, and crossing into the map's right half is a list of 130 objects on the map, marked by numbers, as well as 5 objects marked by Latin letters (a through e).

Map characterization:

  • The map was drawn using lythographic techniques.
  • City district boundaries are not demarkated on the plan.
  • All object names on the plan are provided in old French.

Map toponymics:

  • Administrative buildings: (1).
  • Brick yards: (5).
  • Hydronyms: (9).
  • Horonyms: (2).
  • Streets and roads: (12).
  • Cemeteries: (1).
  • Dairies: (2).
  • Palazzos: (18).
  • Gardens: (4).
  • Sacred buildings: (55).
  • Elevations: (4).
  • Fortifications and military structures: (16).
  • Varia: (5).
  • Hospitals: (3).

Inconsistencies and inaccuracies on the map:

  • The configuration of fortifications (walls, ditches, bulwarks) on the map has the shape of a proper quadrangle, which was not the case in reality [11], p. 9.
  • The hydrographics on the map are presented schematically [11], p. 9.
  • The direction of the streets is distorted [11], p. 9.
    - Today’s Bandery St. is depicted as lying too close to St. George's Cathedral.
  • Our Savior Church is marked on the map in place of the Church of St. Paraskeva Piatnytsia.

Characterization of the city:

The plan provides a schematic depiction of the city space on the eve of significant urban transformation, which began after Lviv was taken by the Austrian forces in 1772. 

The map presents the Inner city part, surrounded by walls, and the irregular construction of the surrounding territories, dominated by churches, monasteries, and palazzos. 1770 was a memorable year for Lviv, because of the large flood, which lasted from January until June [9], p. 274.

City population, according to a survey conducted in 1773, was around 23 thousand people [20], p. 35.

Approximate data as to the number of buildings is only available for 1790. Based on a report by a scientist and traveller then visiting the city Baltasar Hacquet, there were around 2,759 buildings in the city at the time of the map's publication [20], p. 30.

Entry by: Serhii Tereshchenko
Translated by: Pavlo Hrytsak

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