Abstract:
Unique maps of the atlas of Poland compiled by G.A.B. Rizzi-Zannoni in the middle of the 18th century and published in early 1772 are important scientific sources. The atlas contains detailed information on the historical geography of the Northern and North-Western Black Sea region. Of particular importance is the unique map of Moldavia and the territories adjacent to it (the 23rd, as well as the 22nd and 24th sheets of the atlas), compiled based on earlier sources – the rich cartographic materials of the predecessors (G.L. Beauplan, D.K. Cantemir and others), and first of all, the works of the cartographers of the Ottoman Empire, which flourished in the 15th – 17th centuries, have not yet been identified or studied. The work of Rizzi-Zannoni is a reproduction of the oldest (found at the moment) topographic map of the North-Western Black Sea region, reflecting the geographical picture no later than the first half of the 16th – second half of the 17th centuries. Current and further study of the fortifications (castles, fortresses and other fortifications) marked on the maps of Rizzi-Zannoni and representing the most important complexes and objects of historical and cultural heritage are impossible without the involvement of the author’s unique information. Descriptions and reconstructions of fortifications that ignore topography and other details reported by this unique source are a priori incomplete or may even be erroneous. The historic-geographical information recorded on the Rizzi-Zannoni maps is of enormous multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary significance. Its consideration is important for modern and future studies of geography, history, archaeology, architecture, culture, art, ethnography, linguistics, the toponymy of the region as a whole and each heritage site.
