# Merian map of Paris

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{{Short description|17th-century map of Paris}}
thumb|300px|The plan of Merian as originally published
thumb|right|300px|The plan of Merian in a colorized version{{More citations needed|date=April 2026}}
The '''Merian map of Paris''' ({{Langx|fr|plan de Merian}}) was created in 1615 by [Matthäus Merian the Elder](/source/Matth%C3%A4us_Merian_the_Elder). It presents a [bird's eye view](/source/bird's_eye_view) looking [east](/source/east) with a scale of about 1 to 7,000. The map originally consisted of two engraved plates (50 x 37&nbsp;cm each) with the left and right halves of the map and was printed with 2 columns of portraits (each 50 x 13&nbsp;cm) on the left and right sides of the respective map halves. The entire assembly was 50 x 101.5&nbsp;cm.<ref name=Boutier>Boutier 2007, pp. 120–122.</ref>

At the top is a banner with the title: {{lang|fr|LE PLAN DE LA VILLE, CITE, VNIVERSITE ET FAVX-BOVRGS DE PARIS AVEC LA DESCRIPTION DE SON ANTIQVITE ET SINGVLIARITES}} ("Map of the [town](/source/Rive_Droite), [city](/source/%C3%8Ele_de_la_Cit%C3%A9), [university](/source/University_of_Paris) and [suburbs](/source/Faubourg) with the description of its antiquity and particularities"). In the upper left corner of the map, between the [Château de Vincennes](/source/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_Vincennes) and the [Marets du Temple](/source/Square_du_Temple), are the [coat of arms of France](/source/coat_of_arms_of_France) and [Navarre](/source/Coat_of_arms_of_Navarre), encircled by the necklaces of the [Orders of the Holy Spirit](/source/Order_of_the_Holy_Spirit) and [of Saint Michael](/source/Order_of_Saint_Michael) to just its right, the [coat of arms of Paris](/source/coat_of_arms_of_Paris) surrounded by a [crown of laurel leaves](/source/Laurel_wreath). The portraits on the left, top to bottom are: the king, courtiers, nobles and merchants, peasants and commoners; on the right: the queen, ladies of the court, noble and bourgeois women, common women.<ref name=Boutier/> In the lower left of the map, beneath the farm of the Grange Batellière, there are four lines of verse:

{|
|{{Space|3}}
|<poem>
Cette ville est un autre monde
Dedans, un monde florissant,
{{Nowrap|En peuples et en biens puissants}}
Qui de toutes choses abonde.
</poem>
|{{Space|5}}
|<poem>
This city is another world
Therein a flowerful world,
Of people very powerful
{{Nowrap|To whom all things abound.}}
</poem>
|}

On the right of the poem is [inscribed](/source/inscription) the name of the author of the map: {{lang|la|Matheus Merian Basiliensis fecit}} ("did" in [Latin](/source/Latin)). At the bottom of the map, there is an ornament with a large [compass rose](/source/compass_rose) placed in the middle of the [River Seine](/source/River_Seine).

The Merian map was frequently used as the basis of subsequent maps, including those of [Visscher](/source/Claes_Jansz._Visscher) (1618), [Melchior Tavernier](/source/Melchior_Tavernier) ({{circa|1625}}–1635), [Jacob van der Heyden](/source/Jacob_van_der_Heyden) (1630), [Christophe Tassin](/source/Christophe_Tassin) (1634), Dubarle ({{circa|1641}}), {{ill|Giacomo Lauro (engraver)|fr|Giacomo Lauro|lt=Giacomo Lauro}} ({{circa|1642}}), and [Martin Zeiler](/source/Martin_Zeiler) (1655). In turn, the map of Tassin served as the source of numerous later maps.<ref name=Boutier/>

==References==
<references/>
*Boutier, Jean (2007). ''Les Plans de Paris'', second edition, pp.&nbsp;120–122. Paris: Bibliothèque nationale de France. {{ISBN|978-2-7177-2389-2}}.

==Further reading==
* {{citation |title=[Topographia Galliae](/source/Topographia_Galliae) |language=de |year=1655 |publisher= Caspar [Merian](/source/Merian_family) |location=Frankfurt |volume= 1 |chapter=Paris |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HXFOAAAAcAAJ&pg=PR13 }}

==External links==
{{Portal|France}}
{{Commons category-inline|Merian plan of Paris}}

Category:Maps of Paris
Category:History of Paris
Category:Maps of the history of France
Category:Urban planning in France
Category:1615 works
Category:17th-century maps and globes

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