The sixteenth century was a golden age for geography and cartography. The growing interest in traveling to previously unknown regions and the discovery of new territories fostered the emergence of city maps and illustrations, and marked the beginning of the configuration of the modern world. In parallel with this development, the progress of printing favoured the wide circulation and popularity of these publications.

In 1544 Sebastian Münster published his "Cosmographia", regarded as the earliest description of the world in German. Printed in 1570, "Theatrum Orbis Terrarum" was written by Abraham Ortelius and widely considered to be the first modern atlas. In one single volume, it gathered a number of maps of the Earth in a structured order following the hierarchy still in use today: world map, continents, countries and regions.

Two years later, "Civitates Orbis Terrarum", one of the most ambitious sixteenth-century geographical publications, was released. 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 accompanying them. "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. Its relevance lies in the detailed physical and historical description of those places, providing in-depth information on the geography, architecture, economy and culture of the time.

The work is also outstanding for the refinement of the illustrations. The engravings—mostly made by Hogenberg—are based on the set of drawings made by Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600) during a long journey throughout Europe to get to know the orography and customs of its different regions. With a total of 43 views, Spain plays a significant role in this publication, with Andalusia, where Hoefnagel stayed from 1563 through 1565, prominently featured as a territory of major interest.

In its holdings the BBVA Collection has an engraving representing a bird’s-eye view of Alhama. This town to the south of Granada owes its name (“hot water”) to the thermal springs discovered in Roman times. In the sixteenth century it had become a popular destination for the noble classes.

The work is a delicately illustrated print, included in volume II of the atlas—whose first edition was released in 1575—based on a drawing made by Hoefnagel in 1564. This exquisite illustration shows a craggy landscape with Alhama emerging among its peaks. In the foreground, a number of characters devoted to their various activities draw a picture of the customs and fashions of the time in Andalusia. Worth underscoring are the minutely depicted elements, both of the architecture—like the church of Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación—and of the landscape, that provide information about the vegetation and the geography of the region.