Although the monk never set foot outside Venice, his Mappa Mundi is amazingly accurate in its depiction of cities, provinces, continents, rivers and mountains.

Our word “map” came into English (probably through French) from the Latin phrase mappa mundi, map of the world. But mappa really means table-napkin; a map is the world inscribed on a napkin.

In the book Mappa Mundi: The Hereford World Map, by P.D.A. Harvey, a glossary is given for the map’s varied creatures and mythical beasts. It writes that dragons were found in India, ...

Around 1450, the Venetian government commissioned a monk named Fra Mauro to make a mappa mundi, a map of the world.His map is a circle nearly 7 feet in diameter, crammed with illustrations and ...

Hereford Cathedral is home to the Mappa Mundi - which is seen as one of the world’s greatest medieval treasures. Measuring 1.59 x 1.34 metres (5ft 2ins by 4ft 4ins), the map is constructed on a ...

A historic map that marks the supposed sites of religious events is still being decoded nearly 1,000 years after it was made. The Mappa Mundi, in Hereford Cathedral in England, contains more than 5… ...

Almost twice as large as the famous English Hereford Mappa Mundi (ca 1300), this exquisitely decorated planisphere showcasing Europe, Africa and Asia was the masterpiece of Fra Mauro, a monk of ...

While there are thankfully quite a few historic world maps still knocking around today, the Mappa Mundi kept in Hereford Cathedral is our top pick because it’s full of intricate details, large-scale ...

On the second floor of the Library of Saint Mark in Venice, a map of the world occupies an entire room – and rightfully so, considering its historical significance and imposing size (2.4m x 2.4m ...