Centuries-Old Gorgeous Maps Of Malta From Way Before Planes Were A Thing

Everyone knows Malta looks like a weird fish with a weird, blobby Gozo following close behind, but it might’ve been a bit tougher to get to that conclusion in a time before planes and helicopters were a thing. 

Over the ages, maps of Malta have changed in shape until they got to the fishy conclusion we now know and love. From the Mediterranean island to some of its most beautiful highlights (a newly-constructed Valletta, for example), here are 19 old maps from a long-gone past.

1. This 1565 Map depicting the Siege 

2. A map of Valletta by Tito & Paolo Diani from 1588 

3. A study on European Fortifications by Nicolás de Fer carried out in 1694

4. Jean Baudoin’s 1643 depiction of the Order of St. John’s galleys 

5. Engraved 1665 Map showing scenes from the Siege and the Holy Trinity by Joan Blaeu

6. 1655 Map by Giovanni Maria Turruni from Theatro del mondo

7. 16th Century Geographical feature description of the Maltese islands by Jean Quintin

8. A map depicting early construction of Valletta, 1597

9. Engraving found in Zeiller’s Topographia IItaliae by Matthaus Merrian, c.1640

10. Porto di Malta by Domenico Zenoi, 1565

11. Ultimo disegno delli forti di Malta uenuto novamente by Antione Lafréry, 1565

12. Nvovo et verissimo ritratto del isola di Malta by Gaspare Alberti, c.1565 

13. Le Miroir du Monde by Zacharias Heyns, 1598

14. Earliest Histories of the Great Siege of Malta of 1565 

15. Isle et Siege de Malte engraved by Henri Raignauld, 1629

16. L’isole più famose del mondo descritte da Tomaso Porcacchi da Castiglione, 1629

17. Navigation map by Piri Reis dedicated to Sultan Süleyman I, 1555

18. L’Assedio di Malta, at the Museii Vaticani

19. An extended view of the same map

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