The Names Macedonia, Romania and Turcia In Old Geographical Maps (a.d. 1450–1750)

Desislava Dimkova , Emil Keleveđiev , Jordan Tabov

A study concerning the presence of names like “Turkey” and “Macedonia” in some old geographical maps (1400–1700 AD) is considered. There are examined more than twenty digitized maps of that period, including the maps of Bianco (1436), Ptolemy (1490, 1503, 1511), Mercator (1575), Ortelius (1579) and others. We found some unexplainable lack of names referred to Turkey or the Ottoman Empire and some prevalence of the name “Macedonia” till 17th century on the maps showing the regions of South-Eastern Europe and Asia Minor. Some aspects of digitizing maps and suitable forms of storing are pointed to discusion. Questions arising about practical use of a resolution level, which is necessary for a proper identification of names on maps, and how to identify them, are presented.