Giambattista Albrizzi

Orsova fortezza sopra d'una isola del Danubio Fra. L'Asprismo. Monte Hemus Due Migl. Lontana Dalle Porte Ferro

      Scarce map of the Fortified City of Orsova in Romania, illustrating a battle between the Habsburg and Ottoman forces for the control of the City.  The old city is shown on the banks of the Danube, with the modern fortifications on the island in the middle of the River.  Orsova was the site of a Roman Port on the Danube River in Dacia Malvensis Orsova and the site of the Dierna castrum.  The City was the site of King Ladislaus I of Hungary's defeat of the Cuman's in 1091 and a line of defense in the Middle Ages.  In 1522, the City was captured by Solyman the Magnificent.  Orsova became part of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1687, but was re-taken by the Ottomans in 1690.  In 1718, the Treaty of Pozarevac returned the city to the Kingdom of Hungary, which controlled the City until the 20th Century. This map appeared in Albrizzi's Storia di tutti i popoli del Mondo, the Italian edition of Thomas Salmon's popular History of the World.   (Venice, 1750) [color: Hand Colored, size: 9 x 6 inches, condition: VG]