The National Land Service under the Ministry of Environment (NŽT) opened the exhibition of historical cartography "Lithuania in Europe" at the House of Signatories in Vilnius.
The exhibition exhibits unique works of historical cartography, a collection of old maps of the 17th-18th centuries stored in the archives of the NŽT, a copy of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact map, original geographical atlases of interwar European countries, publications of modern cartography known as state passports - the Lithuanian national atlas and the Ukrainian national atlas.
At the opening of the exhibition, Minister of the Environment Simonas Gentvilas emphasized the importance of opening relevant cartographic material to the public. "It makes a lot of sense to exhibit cartographic archives in the historic House of the Signatories on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Lithuania's EU membership. To open to the public the assets that we have created through the historical decisions of state land management, state geodesy and state cartography," said the minister.
During the opening of the exhibition, on March 22, two professors discussed the circumstances of the first mention of Lithuania's name on old medieval maps.
According to geography professor Algimantas Česnulevičius, the first known mention of the name Lithuania dates back to 1311. in the map of the world by the Italian cartographer P. Vesconte, a published work which was dedicated to the exaltation of the Crusaders when they were expelled from the Holy Land and found themselves in Prussia.
"It is very interesting that the first mentions of the name of Lithuania, both in Pietro Veskontė's, Dulcert's, and Abraham Kresko's maps, are insisted on with a very straightforward description. Lithuania is pagan, and cartographers only add epithets to us - "Letoini pagani", "Lintefunia paganorum", "Litefanie paganis", etc. No epithet is added to other countries, other lands. Only with us", said Prof. with a smile. A. Česnulevičius.
Historian professor Alfredas Bumblauskas drew the attention of the visitors of the exhibition to the meanings that are particularly relevant today, which are encoded in the old cartography. According to the professor, in the 16th century "Europa Unita" maps, the so-called "Queen of Europe" or "Europa Regina" allegorical maps, like many other maps, two countries are very clearly separated - Muscovy and Russia.
"Here we can see very clearly how the Muscovites stole the name of Russia from the Ukrainians and in the time of Peter I began to build their empire under the guise of Russia," said the professor.
Both professors also emphasized the importance of land management reforms for the development and progress of the state. A lot of attention was paid to the Wallachian reform, which created the conditions not only for the strengthening of the then state, the growth of budget revenues, but also created the conditions for the emergence of the first one created in Lithuania, the so-called M. Radvilos Našlaitėlio XVII century. for the starting map.
The exhibition of historical cartography will be on display at the Signatary House in Vilnius until April 5. It was prepared to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of Lithuania's membership in the European Union. Visiting the exhibition is free. Exhibition partner - Lithuanian National Museum.
