Portolan chart of Cyprus Island

Very rare watercolour portolan chart of Cyprus by Piri Reis a noted 16th century Ottoman admiral and cartographer. The chart was one of many included in his work the Kitabi Bahriye or Book of Navigation. There were two printings of the Kitabi Bahriye, one in 1521 and again in 1525. An Arabic inscription can be seen written in black and red at the top of the chart. The chart is framed by silver and depicts the island of Cyprus with it's major ports and cardinal directions delineated as an array of directional arrows. The major geologic features of the Troodos and Pentadactylos mountains are rendered as reductive symbols in red and three rivers are illustrated in black. Population centres are rendered as building groupings showing Nicosia in the centre of the island and Famagusta to the east. Along the coast of the island various types of ships and sailing boats are illustrated within the ports of Famagusta, Kyrenia and Limassol. Back of frame reads Portolan Chart of Cyprus Island