Nette Koerswysing van Amsterdam naer Moskow en Astrakan en van daer naer Spahan en Gamron

This unusual map of Central Europe, Russia, and the Middle East was published to show how a trade route might be established between Amsterdam and the Indian Ocean without having to round Africa or travel across hostile Ottoman territory.



Starting in Amsterdam, the traveller would sail around Scandinavia and through the White Sea to Archangelsk in northern Russia. They would then travel down the Dvina River before cutting across land to Moscow. From Moscow they would travel the length of the Volga River to Astrakhan on the Caspian Sea and then overland across Iran (Persia) to Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. From Hormuz the traveler would have safe access to the Indian Ocean.



The map provides excellent detail about places along the route but is otherwise quite sparse with only major cities, rivers, and mountain ranges marked.



[EUR1242]