The Uppsala Map is a 16th century map of Mexico City, one of a handful of known maps which illustrate the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán as it was within a few decades of the Spanish conquest of 1521. The other surviving maps include the Nuremberg or Cortes map of 1524; and the Maguey Plan, made about 1558. The Uppsala Map is a colonial-era map believed to have been made by an unnamed indigenous person or persons to present to the Spanish king Carlos V.


The Uppsala map, so-called because it is currently located in the Uppsala University Library in Sweden, was painted in watercolor on two sheets of parchment paper, joined together at the center. The existing map measures 114x78 centimeters (24x31 inches), and it is oriented with the west to the top. Tenochtitlán was built in the middle of a swamp, and the Uppsala map shows the city in its watery environment including canals, lagoons and rivers: but it also includes mountains, forests, small towns and roads in the vicinity of the capital, from Chilmahuacan Chalco to Jilotepec and from Teotihuacan to Santa Fe.

Who Made the Map--and When?

Debate over the date of the map continues, based on the presence or absence of buildings which appear to be illustrated on the map--and those are interesting but fairly esoteric arguments not suitably addressed here (see Kubler's 1952 review of Linné for a blow-by-blow). Scholars in the literature I accessed agree that the Uppsala map was likely drawn between 1550 and 1557, and most simply peg it at 1550.

Debate over who drew the map, alternatively, has faded. The map has a badly damaged dedication, in the lower right hand corner, written in Latin, which reports that cosmographer Alonso de Santa Cruz [~1500-1567] presented this map of Tenochtitlan (spelled Tenuxititan) to his employer, the Spanish Emperor Carlos V. Early scholars believed that Santa Cruz had himself drawn the map. However, today scholars believe that the inscription was added after the map was completed, and apparently not included in the original design.

Alonso de Santa Cruz

Alonso de Santa Cruz was a distinguished Spanish cartographer who came to the Americas with Sebastian Cabot and, according to this Wikipedia entry accessed in October 2014, he was highly sympathetic to the indigenous people of Mexico, which got him into trouble back in Spain. It is clear that his cartographic style influenced the map's construction: but Santa Cruz never lived in Mexico City. Linné and other scholars since have argued that the map was likely the work of indigenous pupils at the Colegio de Santa Cruz at Tenochtitlan's sister city Tlatelolco.

The Colegio de Santa Cruz was said to have been founded by Santa Cruz and the Spanish Viceroy Mendoza. Uppsala map has several cartographic elements that resemble those found on Santa Cruz's 1542 map of the world, including borders, banners and a coat of arms. But the presence of nearly 200 indigenous place names has convinced most scholars that the mapmaker was a local person or persons, perhaps students of Santa Cruz.

The Map's Content

Art historian John López (2013, 2014) points out that the map has two parts: city and countryside, and they are treated differently. The lakes and countryside are lively with colorful drawings of human activity. There are people hunting with bows and arrows, canoers capturing water fowl, Spaniards on horses and pochtecas (Aztec traders) with their packs; there are people herding sheep, cutting wood, fishing, walking and even under attack. The section of the map which illustrates the city has only one person illustrated--who López calls the mapmaker/narrator (see below)--and its representation is not nearly as colorful or lively.

López argues that there is ample evidence for Spanish draconian city planning efforts in the city--even the conquistador Cortés was told to comply with Spanish rules or have his buildings torn down. There are streets intersecting at right angles to form a gridiron plan with rectilinear blocks. The buildings illustrated in the city are shown with their front facades facing the reader, no matter what their orientation.

According to Konig (2005), among the details presented on the map are the Iztapalapa gardens, located in the southwestern part of the basin of Mexico. The Spanish conquistadors reported that the gardens were tended by Cuitlahuac II, the younger brother of the last Aztec king Motechuzoma Xocoyotzin. It was said to have included a square pool surrounded by broad pathways, filled with fish and aquatic birds.