This delicate hand-illustrated engraving represents a sixteenth-century bird’s-eye view of Loja, in Andalusia. The print was made by Frans Hogenberg, based in turn on a drawing made by the Flemish artist Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600) during a long journey that took him throughout Europe from 1561 to 1567 to get to know the physical characteristics and customs of its many regions.

The view provides highly detailed information about the layout of the town and its natural surroundings, with the awe-inspiring Loja mountains standing out in the background. Also worth mentioning is the precision of the depiction, which gives us an accurate account of the town and its adaptation to the lie of the land. The creator of the image carried out a significant study of the architecture of the place, highlighting its most characteristic constructions, including the Roman bridge of Riofrío, the Alcazaba castle and he wall, symbolising the location’s military relevance. The elegantly attired characters in the foreground also provide information about Andalusian fashions of the time.

The print belongs to the work "Civitates Orbis Terrarum", one of the most important and complete publications of the geography and cartography of the modern world. The principal editor of the book was the German cleric Georg Braun, who, with the collaboration of scientists and churchmen, compiled the images featured in the publication and wrote the Latin texts with information on the history, geography, architecture, economy and culture of each region. It is an essential documentary source on the layout of the modern city, with views of battles, bird’s-eye views of cities, towns and their natural surroundings.

"Civitates Orbis Terrarum" consists of six volumes published between 1572 and 1617, containing 546 views of towns and cities in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and part of America. Many important geographers and mapmakers collaborated in this publishing endeavour. A special mention is deserved for Abraham Ortelius, the writer of "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum", which, for the first time, gathered a number of maps in a structured order, earning it the consideration as the first modern atlas.

With forty-three views, Spain is prominently featured in "Civitates Orbis Terrarum". And one of the territories that aroused most interest was Andalusia, a region where Hoefnagel stayed from 1563 to 1565, reflecting the fascination for the perceived exoticism of this Spanish region in the Modern Era.