The map of Caucasus 1723

“Carte des Pays Voisins de la Mer Caspienne, 1723” This striking 1723 map by the eminent French cartographer Guillaume De L’Isle offers one of the earliest Western depictions of the Caspian Sea grounded in empirical accuracy. Titled Carte des Pays Voisins de la Mer Caspienne, it represents a pivotal moment in the cartographic history of the Caucasus—marking the first time the seminal 1719–1721 surveys by Carl Van Verden and S. I. Soimonov were set within their broader geographical context. Regarded as one of De L’Isle’s most important—and frequently misunderstood—works, the map stretches from the Black Sea to the frontiers of Independent Tartary, and from the Russian heartland to the Persian domains. It encompasses the entire Caspian Sea and the territories of modern-day Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, and Turkey. At the time, Western Europe’s knowledge of the region was fragmented. De L’Isle, renowned for his scientific rigor, synthesized diverse sources to create this map—among them Russian expeditions, Persian emissaries, Georgian ecclesiastics and nobles, and recent surveys conducted under imperial auspices. Many of these contributors are acknowled

Date

April 23, 2025

Mapmaker / publisher

Delisle, Guillaume

Place

the Caspian Sea

Archive

Wikimedia Commons

Type

map

Original size

2,863 × 2,089 pixels

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