Antilia–Brasil Composite – Seville Phantom of 1424
Antilia Seville · Isla de Antillia 1424 · Seven Cities Antilia · Anti-illa
Medieval cartographic (1424 Pizzigano – 1492 Columbus)·Pizzigano–Portuguese cartographic·🇵🇹 Mid-Atlantic – 1424 Zuane Pizzigano island west of Azores (Seville chart), Portugal
About
About Antilia–Brasil Composite – Seville Phantom of 1424
Pizzigano Chart 1424 depicts large rectangular Antillia west of Azores with seven city bays (representing Visigoth bishops fleeing 714 Ali conquest). Later portolans (Beccario 1435, Pareto 1455) duplicate as 'Antillia'. Columbus 1492 argued his route would pass Antilia on way to Cipangu; Toscanelli's 1474 letter to Fernandes Martins explicitly plots 'Antilia' as waypoint. Not the same atoll as antillia-seven-cities-island but same family — here seville variant with rectangular cartouche vs island arch 31N 34W variant already in database, treated as separate cartographic phases (1424 vs 1460).
Why it mattersDuplicate phantom morphs of same legend — how one 'Seven Cities' story generated both rectangular and arch shapes on successive portolans before 1492.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Did Pizzigano's source mis-draw the nine-Azores cluster as one rectangular island?
- 02Why does Toscanelli latitude for Antilia drift 28N vs 36N?
Theories
- 01Thomson 1927 measured Pizzigano Antilia scale = summed Azores block area — cartographic compression proof
- 02Becario 1435 correct lat for Azores while Pizzigano 1424 5° north — 10-yr Azores survey corrected northing before islands fixed
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- 1424 Pizzigano Chart first appearance
- Period
- Medieval cartographic (1424 Pizzigano – 1492 Columbus)
- Culture
- Pizzigano–Portuguese cartographic
- Purpose
- Visigothic refuge island origin myth + Atlantic waypoint
- Abandoned
- 1492 Columbus passes assumed north of Antilia, 1507 Waldseemüller removes
- Rediscovered
- 1424
- Excavation
- Not applicable
1424
Zuane Pizzigano charts rectangular Antillia west of Azores with seven bays
1435
Battista Becario duplicates Antilia as 'Antilla' with rather good Azores lat
1474
Paolo Toscanelli plots Antilia as waypoint to Cipangu for King Afonso V
1492
Columbus diary claims he will sight Antilia on Western sail
1507
Waldseemüller drops Antilia — first map without phantom rectangular island
On the ground
Structures & features
36.5000° N · 28.5000° W · 0 m · 3 mapped features
Pizzigano Antilia 1424 rectangle
phantomRectangular 440×280 km at 36.5N 28.5W
36.5000° N · 28.5000° WBeccario 1435 Antilla variant
variant1435 duplicate with correct Azores lat 39N 28W
39.0000° N · 28.0000° WReal Azores nine-island cluster
realNine islands whose combined block was misrendered as Antilia
38.5000° N · 28.5000° W
Gallery