There Map of Piri Reis It is a Renaissance cartographic representation (a Portolano, to be precise) made by the Turkish Admiral Ottomnono Piri Reis Between 1513 and 1517, which according to some authors would show the profile of some sections of the coast ofAntarctica Three centuries before the latter had been officially discovered in the early 19th century. The map actually represents one of the most interesting testimonies of thecartographic art of Renaissancebut does not represent the Antarctica, but a long stretch of the coast of South America. He was rediscovered in 1929 in the library of Topkapi Palace of Istanbul and is the fragment of a larger map that depicted the world known at the time. The size of the parchment were probably double compared to what has remained today.
The map is a Portolanoor a card that describes ports, seabed and navigation routes, specifically designed for use at sea. Was made on parchment (87 x 63 cm The size of the surviving stretch) of Gazzella skin for the sultan Selim i (1470-1520) and depicts theAtlanticthe Western coasts of Africathe Eastern coasts of South America and some Caribbean islands. What is striking is the surprising accuracy With which some areas were represented by Piri Reis, considering the era and the cultural context in which it was designed. In fact, in the Islamic world the interest in the new European geographical discoveries of the end of the fifteenth and early 16th century was discontinuous. Piri Reis began to work there in 1513, and offered it to the Sultan in 1517. In the following years some touches of different nature were made.
The paper fits perfectly into the style of the Portolani in use in the Renaissance era. The sources used by the Ottoman admiral to draw up the map were varied and denote one Wide knowledge of European cartography Despite the substantial disinterest in force for the Ottoman court of the time for the topic. The greatest inspiration for Piri’s work were the Portolani Portuguesewhich at the time were among the best in the world, but also the most Ancient cartographic tradition of the Islamic world. Another of the sources that the Ottoman admiral declares to have used is a map (unfortunately lost) drawn up by Cristoforo Colombowhich is called “Qolōnbō, Cinevizden Kâfir“, in Turkish Ottoman”Colombo, Genoese unfaithful“. The use of the Portuguese and Colombo maps by Piri Reis certainly denotes a great interest For the new discoveries by the admiral, in contrast to the Ottoman court of Constantinople, who had no interest in the nascent Atlantic traffic that would have made the fortune of Spain and Portugal from there a few decades.
There lower part of the map depicts some sections of the coasts of theSouthern America. These are some regions of the current Brazilin particular the area where it stands today Rio de Janeiro (called by Piri Reis in Ottoman Turkish “Healthy saneyro“). The southernmost areas are sketched in a manner less precise Compared to the rest of the map, and this is compatible with the knowledge that the Portuguese navigators of the coasts of South America had at the time. In the early 16th century the Portuguese had gone very little In those areas, therefore the cards from which Piri Reis could draw were less precise For the area south of the current Rio de Janeiro. At this point, however, the coasts represented by the Turkish cartographer they are abruptly oriented east. How come?
Some authors who dealt with the study of this map have speculating that the territory that Piri Reis represented at the bottom may be the coast of the Patagoniaor even of the Antarctic continent. Much more probably it would be Always of the coasts of Brazil south of Rio de Janeiroso represented because subject to the size of the parchment sheet on which Piri Reis worked. It was in fact not unusual that the cartographers of the time distort their drawings according to the support on which they were performed (let’s not forget that the parchment was extremely expensive), a bit like when we realize that the space on the sheet is ending and we write with a different orientation.

The coast of the Patagonia In fact, it would have been explored a few years later, in 1920s of the 16th century from the shipment of MagellanWhile Antarcticaalthough its existence had been postulated since ancient times, was discovered only in the First half of the 19th century.
The theory according to which the map of Piri Reis constitutes the First representation of the Antarctic continent It was formulated by the amateur archaeologist Arlington Mallerry (1877–1968). This theory was made known by Charles Hapgood (1904-1982), who believed that during the Prehistory Antarctica was not only free of icebut which also constituted the cradle of an advanced civilization who had colonized the planet. This theory, which has had a lot of luck in the fantasy environments, is without any scientific foundation. Not only There is no archaeological trace of this mother civilization, but science has shown that thelast time in which the Antarctica was free from the ice was about 10 million years agolong before the appearance of human beings on earth.
