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This 1764 map of the fortified city of La Canée (modern-day Chania) on the island of Crete, or Candia, was created by the renowned French cartographer Jacques-Nicolas Bellin. Commissioned by the Dépôt des Cartes et Plans de la Marine, Bellin’s map captures the strategic urban layout and fortifications of this important Venetian and Ottoman port city on the Mediterranean coast.
The plan is highly detailed, with key locations identified in a numbered legend below. Features include "Le Port" (A), "L'Arsenal" (B), and several bastions and châteaux positioned around the city for defensive purposes. Noteworthy fortifications like the Bastion de la Sabionara (D) and Bastion de St. Demetrius (K) underline the city's historical military significance. Additionally, religious and administrative structures, such as the "Eglise de St. Nicolas" (P) and "Le Palais" (R), are marked, reflecting the city’s mixed civic and military functions.
A compass rose orients the viewer towards the Mediterranean Sea. Bellin’s precise cartographic style emphasizes the geometry and planning of La Canée’s fortifications. This map exemplifies Bellin's skill in combining technical accuracy with an elegant presentation, making it a valuable historical document of Crete’s fortified cities.
Jacques-Nicolas Bellin (1703-1772) was among the most important mapmakers of the eighteenth century. In 1721, at only the age of 18, he was appointed Hydrographer to the French Navy. In August 1741, he became the first Ingénieur de la Marine of the Dépôt des cartes et plans de la Marine (the French Hydrographic Office) and was named Official Hydrographer of the French King.
During his term as Official Hydrographer, the Dépôt was the one of the most active centers for the production of sea charts and maps in Europe. Their output included a folio-format sea atlas of France, the Neptune Francois. He also produced a number of sea atlases of the world, including the Atlas Maritime and the Hydrographie Francaise. These gained fame and distinction all over Europe and were republished throughout the eighteenth and even in the nineteenth century.
Bellin also produced smaller format maps such as the 1764 Petit Atlas Maritime, containing 580 finely-detailed charts. He also contributed a number of maps for the 15-volume Histoire Generale des Voyages of Antoine François Prévost.
Bellin set a very high standard of workmanship and accuracy, cementing France's leading role in European cartography and geography during this period. Many of his maps were copied by other mapmakers across the continent.
![[Greece & Turkey] Tabula Europae X](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/94618.jpg)