ACTA GEOGRAPHICA
SLOVENICA GEOGRAFSKIZBORNIK
2023
63
2
0101661851779
ISSN 1581-6613
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GEOGRAFSKI ZBORNIK
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Contents
SPECIAL ISSUE – Old maps in geography and cartography
POSEBNA IZDAJA – Stari zemljevidi v geografiji in kartografiji
Blaž Komac, Primož GašPerič
Cartographic time travel: Reflecting the past, defining the present, and challenging
the future using old maps 9
Primož GašPerič
A new standardized methodology for analyzing cartographic information on old maps 23
Primož GašPerič, Saša BaBič
The semiotics of cartographic symbols on old maps 51
rožle Bratec mrvar, Primož GašPerič
Traditional and modern cartographic materials for geography teaching: 
From Blaž Kocen to the present 73
Drago PerKo
The first world atlas in Slovenian, and Slovenian territory in some early world atlases 91
naslovnica 63-2_naslovnica 49-1.qxd  4.12.2023  6:29  Page 1
ACTA GEOGRAPHICA
SLOVENICA GEOGRAFSKIZBORNIK
2023
63
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0101661851779
ISSN 1581-6613
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23ACTA GEOGRAPHICA SLOVENICA
GEOGRAFSKI ZBORNIK
63-2 • 2023
Contents
SPECIAL ISSUE – Old maps in geography and cartography
POSEBNA IZDAJA – Stari zemljevidi v geografiji in kartografiji
Blaž Komac, Primož GašPerič
Cartographic time travel: Reflecting the past, defining the present, and challenging
the future using old maps 9
Primož GašPerič
A new standardized methodology for analyzing cartographic information on old maps 23
Primož GašPerič, Saša BaBič
The semiotics of cartographic symbols on old maps 51
rožle Bratec mrvar, Primož GašPerič
Traditional and modern cartographic materials for geography teaching: 
From Blaž Kocen to the present 73
Drago PerKo
The first world atlas in Slovenian, and Slovenian territory in some early world atlases 91
naslovnica 63-2_naslovnica 49-1.qxd  4.12.2023  6:29  Page 1
ACTA GEOGRAPHICA SLOVENICA
63-2
2023
ISSN: 1581-6613
UDC: 91
2023, ZRC SAZU, Geografski inštitut Antona Melika
International editorial board/mednarodni uredniški odbor: Zoltán Bátori (Hungary), David Bole (Slovenia), Marco Bontje (the Netherlands),
Mateja Breg Valjavec (Slovenia), Michael Bründl (Switzerland), Rok Ciglič (Slovenia), Špela Čonč (Slovenia), Lóránt Dénes Dávid
(Hungary), Mateja Ferk (Slovenia), Matej Gabrovec (Slovenia), Matjaž Geršič (Slovenia), Maruša Goluža (Slovenia), Mauro Hrvatin
(Slovenia), Ioan Ianos (Romania), Peter Jordan (Austria), Drago Kladnik (Slovenia), Blaž Komac (Slovenia), Jani Kozina (Slovenia),
Matej Lipar (Slovenia), Dénes Lóczy (Hungary), Simon McCarthy (United Kingdom), Slobodan B. Marković (Serbia), Janez Nared
(Slovenia), Cecilia Pasquinelli (Italy), Drago Perko (Slovenia), Florentina Popescu (Romania), Garri Raagmaa (Estonia), Ivan Radevski
(North Macedonia), Marjan Ravbar (Slovenia), Aleš Smrekar (Slovenia), Vanya Stamenova (Bulgaria), Annett Steinführer (Germany),
Mateja Šmid Hribar (Slovenia), Jure Tičar (Slovenia), Jernej Tiran (Slovenia), Radislav Tošić (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Mimi Urbanc
(Slovenia), Matija Zorn (Slovenia), Zbigniew Zwolinski (Poland)
Editors-in-Chief/glavna urednika: Rok Ciglič, Blaž Komac (ZRC SAZU, Slovenia)
Executive editor/odgovorni urednik: Drago Perko (ZRC SAZU, Slovenia)
Chief editors/področni urednik (ZRC SAZU, Slovenia):
• physical geography/fizična geografija: Mateja Ferk, Matej Lipar, Matija Zorn
• human geography/humana geografija: Jani Kozina, Mateja Šmid Hribar, Mimi Urbanc
• regional geography/regionalna geografija: Matej Gabrovec, Matjaž Geršič, Mauro Hrvatin
• regional planning/regionalno planiranje: David Bole, Janez Nared, Maruša Goluža
• environmental protection/varstvo okolja: Mateja Breg Valjavec, Jernej Tiran, Aleš Smrekar
Editorial assistants/uredniška pomočnika: Špela Čonč, Jernej Tiran (ZRC SAZU, Slovenia)
Journal editorial system manager/upravnik uredniškega sistema revije: Jure Tičar (ZRC SAZU, Slovenia)
Issued by/izdajatelj: Geografski inštitut Antona Melika ZRC SAZU
Published by/založnik: Založba ZRC
Co-published by/sozaložnik: Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti
Address/naslov: Geografski inštitut Antona Melika ZRC SAZU, Gosposka ulica 13, p. p. 306, SI – 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija;
ags@zrc-sazu.si
The articles are available on-line/prispevki so dostopni na medmrežju: http://ags.zrc-sazu.si (ISSN: 1581–8314)
This work is licensed under the/delo je dostopno pod pogoji: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Ordering/naročanje: Založba ZRC, Novi trg 2, p. p. 306, SI – 1001 Ljubljana, Slovenija; zalozba@zrc-sazu.si
Annual subscription/letna naročnina: 20 € for individuals/za posameznika, 28 € for institutions/za ustanove
Single issue/cena posamezne številke: 12,50 € for individuals/za posameznika, 16 € for institutions/za ustanove
Cartography/kartografija: Geografski inštitut Antona Melika ZRC SAZU
Translations/prevodi: DEKS, d. o. o.
DTP/prelom: SYNCOMP, d. o. o.
Printed by/tiskarna: Present, d. o. o.
Print run/naklada: 300 copies/izvodov
The journal is subsidized by the Slovenian Research Agency and is issued in the framework of the Geography of Slovenia core research pro-
gramme (P6-0101)/Revija izhaja s podporo Javne agencije za raziskovalno dejavnost Republike Slovenije in nastaja v okviru raziskovalnega
programa Geografija Slovenije (P6-0101).
The journal is indexed also in/revija je vključena tudi v: Clarivate Web of Science (SCIE – Science Citation Index Expanded; JCR –
Journal Citation Report/Science Edition), Scopus, ERIH PLUS, GEOBASE Journals, Current geographical publications, EBSCOhost,
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Design by/Oblikovanje: Matjaž Vipotnik
Front cover photography: The image shows part of the cartouche of the map Ducatus Carnioliae tabula chorographica by Janez Dizma
Florjančič from 1744. The personified Carniola is surrounded by the coats of arms of noble families and a mountainous landscape
showing the entrance to a mine, a waterfall, a river gorge, and people on stilts (Geographical Museum GIAM ZRC SAZU).
Fotografija na naslovnici: Na sliki je predstavljen del kartuše zemljevida Ducatus Carnioliae tabula chorographica Janeza Dizme
Florjančiča iz leta 1744. Personificirano Kranjsko obdajajo grbi plemiških rodbin in gorska pokrajina, kjer so upodobljeni vhod
v rudnik, slap, rečna soteska in osebi na hoduljah (Zemljepisni muzej GIAM ZRC SAZU).
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Acta geographica Slovenica, 63-2, 2023, 9–21
CArtOgrAPhIC tImE trAvEL:
rEfLECtINg thE PASt, DEfININg
thE PrESENt, AND ChALLENgINg
thE fUtUrE USINg OLD mAPS
Blaž Komac, Primož Gašperič
Old maps are an important basis for how we perceive the modern world.
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Blaž Komac, Primož Gašperič, Cartographic time travel: Reflecting the past, defining the present, and challenging the future …
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/AGS.13292
UDC: 912.43(497.4)(091)
528.9(497.4)
Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Blaž Komac1, Primož Gašperič1
Cartographic time travel: Reflecting the past, defining the present, and challenging
the future using old maps
ABSTRACT: This introductory article of the special issue of Acta geographica Slovenica on old maps exam-
ines the importance of old maps as the foundation and culmination of geographical research. Maps, one
of the earliest languages of communication, have guided exploration and become reference documents.
Old maps reveal history, values, and contexts of geographical regions and geographical science. They serve
as a special form of text, making possible communication across centuries. Old maps have inspired fantasy
maps that depict fictional landscapes and create a cultural phenomenon. This special issue contains articles
that analyze the cartographic elements of old maps, the semiotics of old maps, their use in education, and
their historical significance, as well as an article on the first Slovenian atlas. Old maps challenge geographic
knowledge and representation, and they are shaping the digital future.
KEY WORDS: geography, cartography, old maps, semiotics, education, Slovenia
Kartografsko potovanje skozi čas: odsevanje preteklosti, opredeljevanje sedanjosti in
izzivanje prihodnosti z uporabo starih zemljevidov
POVZETEK: Uvodni članek v posebni številki revije Acta geographica Slovenica obravnava pomen starih
zemljevidov kot temelj in vrhunec geografskih raziskav. Zemljevidi, ki so eden najzgodnejših komunikacij-
skih jezikov, so usmerjali raziskovanje in postali referenčni dokumenti. Stari zemljevidi razkrivajo zgodovino,
vrednote in kontekste geografskih regij in geografske znanosti. Služijo kot posebna oblika besedila, ki omogoča
komunikacijo skozi stoletja. Stari zemljevidi so navdihnili domišljijske zemljevide, ki prikazujejo izmišljene
pokrajine in ustvarjajo kulturni fenomen. Ta številka vsebuje članke, ki analizirajo kartografske elemente
in semiotiko starih zemljevidov, njihovo uporabo v izobraževanju in zgodovinski pomen ter članek o prvem
slovenskem atlasu. Stari zemljevidi izzivajo geografsko znanje in predstave ter oblikujejo digitalno prihodnost.
KLJUČNE BESEDE: geografija, kartografija, stari zemljevidi, semiotika, izobraževanje, Slovenija
The article was submitted for publication on August 4th, 2023.
Uredništvo je prejelo prispevek 4. avgusta 2023.
10
1 Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Anton Melik Geographical Institute,
Ljubljana, Slovenia
blaz.komac@zrc-sazu.si (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4205-5790), primoz.gasperic@zrc-sazu.si
(https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6736-1308)
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1 Introduction
This special edition of volume 63 of Acta geographica Slovenica explores the importance of old maps, which
are both the basis for and the result of geographical research. Maps are one of the oldest languages of com-
munication (Harley and Woodward 1987) and have long been a prominent – and the initially preferred–written
language of geography (Harley 1992). The International Cartographic Association (https://icaci.org/
mission) defines a map as »a symbolized representation of geographical reality, representing selected fea-
tures or characteristics, resulting from the creative effort of its author’s execution of choices, and is designed
for use when spatial relationships are of primary relevance«. Visualizing spatial phenomena at an appro-
priate scale allowed or facilitated people’s exploration of uncharted territories. Immediately after their creation,
they became a guidepost and later a reference document for future travelers and explorers. The first known
maps were created in prehistoric times using simple methods and natural materials. With the improve-
ment of technical methods, especially the invention of paper and printing, they became increasingly precise
and technically sophisticated documents, and from the sixteenth century onward they offered two
answers to the problem of interpreting the space-time continuum. Kairos refers to eternity; maps of the
mappa mundi type thus show the position of man in the universe as it exists eternally. The other aspect,
chronos, reflects the encounter with the mundane and thus the mutable, and it is anchored to the Earth
by geographic coordinates. Modern cartography is based on the chronos approach, which has also allowed
it to evolve continuously due to the constant flow of time (Dickason 2011).
Old maps do more than bring the world of the time into the present. Because they include several tech-
nical, contextual, and other levels, they offer something more. They are a »geographical more« (Mlekuž
2008) because they explain the history and the present of a place and time (Urbanc et al. 2006). The authors
of the maps did more than transfer their knowledge of the landscape of the time into the graphic and tex-
tual (i.e., linguistic) content of the maps. By choosing or not choosing cartographic elements, they also
conveyed the thinking and values of themselves and the social group they belonged to. Even empty space
has meaning because »there is no such thing as empty space on a map« (Harley 1988b, 71). Because maps
have a rather clear and also certain technical (Gašperič 2010; 2023), hierarchical, and symbolic structure
(Gašperič and Babič 2023), which allows even »textually illiterates« to communicate across centuries, we
classify them as (bookless, graphic) texts. They have an additional communicative value because, as his-
torical documents, they »reveal the political and cultural picture of the eras in which they were created,
the state of technological development, and the knowledge and ideas of the author« (Fridl and Urbanc 2006,
55). Old maps offer unique insights into history and human perceptions of the world, but they are not infal-
lible records of the real past landscape. As with any historical source, critical analysis and cross-referencing
with other evidence are crucial to gain a deeper understanding of the past.
2 The odyssey of old maps: From cartographic treasures to geographic
insights
2.1 Old maps are defined by the past
The cartographic definition that maps are simply a representation of space and time is flawed. Even mod-
ern topographic maps are sometimes imaginative works because cartographers arbitrarily decide what to
depict on a map, revealing psychological, educational, historical, and cultural backgrounds (Akerman and
Karrow 2007). Rather, old maps reflect the dynamic relationship between the geography of the real world
at the time of their creation and an imaginative geography (Gašperič and Komac 2020) that, like a men-
tal image (Smrekar 2006), reflects the perception of the real world by patrons, cartographers, and map users
in different historical periods.
Old maps serve as a two-dimensional window, revealing a four-dimensional perspective on the evo-
lution of historical space–time perception. They help us understand how the world was understood and
imagined or, to put it literally, visualized, in the past (Urbanc, Gašperič and Kozina 2015), when bound-
aries were simultaneously discovered and overcome through maps (Dorling and Fairbairn 1997; Cosgrove
1999). 
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Western cartography is a complex knowledge system with a half-millennium history as »a form of
knowledge and a form of power« (Harley 1988a) that both created and interpreted an emerging social,
economic, and political spatial structure that was initially imperial (Eurocentric or Northcentric), later
national, and eventually global (Sutton 2015; Corujo Hernández 2019). The maps that are now »old« have
helped constitute and sustain relationships between different worldviews over the centuries, which con-
ceived of the world first locally and superficially, then increasingly broadly, and finally as a planet. Through
them, readers were told where the political and economic centers of the world lay, and which language
was the lingua franca of a map in addition to the cartographic one. It is well known that colonial maps did
not include indigenous place names, and even Google Maps maintained cartographic silence (Quinn 2020)
when it avoided showing favelas in the city of Rio de Janeiro (Novaes 2014). The choice of projection, selec-
tion, and limitation of the area shown on the map contributed (un)willingly to this. The choice of geographic
names and the language of their notation is also critical to understanding maps and creating meanings,
culminating in exonyms with the Springtime of Nations (Kladnik, Geršič and Perko 2020) and decolo-
nial cartography in the modern era (McGurk and Caquard 2020).
The time and place of the creation of old maps influenced other map elements. In this special issue,
we present a study that was used to identify and classify cartographic elements on old maps. In addition
to today’s standardized elements such as title and scale (Gašperič 2023), they also contain written or visu-
al information about journeys, such as that of the Argonauts (Figure 1), who are said to have traveled through
Slovenian territory along the Sava and Ljubljanica rivers, or include information about unknown, unex-
plored areas, such as the phrase »Here be dragons« with some information inadvertently or intentionally
omitted. Thus we know of a label and inscriptions indicating the existence of an unknown southern con-
tinent, Terra Incognita Australis, which became a fantastic locale invoked in fantasy maps and literature,
such as Gulliver’s Travels. Some old maps, such as those by Mercator and Ortelius, entered the world of
»modern fantasy maps« when they sparked the Tartary theory. This revolves around the idea that there
was once a vast, powerful, and highly advanced civilization called Tartaria that supposedly existed in the
region of present-day Russia, Central Asia, and parts of Europe (River 2022).
One article of the special issue is thus devoted to the emergence and development of the »language of
cartographic symbols,« which has become a true graphic Esperanto not only because of its standardization,
but especially because of its semiotic symbolic structure (Gašperič and Babič 2023) and its universality.
Figure 1: Part of Wolfgang Lazius’s map from Ortelius’s atlas of 1573 with a label about the Argonauts: Hic Argonauis stationem habuit, et excauato
monte, per specum sub terra traducta (Here the ship Argo came to a halt, and, because the mountain had been hollowed out, was brought through
a(n underground) cave; Shaw and Macqueen 1998, 381).
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2.2 Old maps define modernity
Old maps (which were not »old« at the time they were created), along with advances in navigation and ori-
entation technology, helped accelerate the spread of the Western ecumene and way of life. They contributed
to the development of the economy, to the exchange of ideas and cultures, and, through the establishment
of trade routes, to the marches of war. At the same time, they made possible and enhanced visual percep-
tion and interpretation of the world’s landscapes, and they profoundly changed the understanding of the world.
Even today, histories tell us more about the world of the time, the relationships between natural and
social elements, and political and economic systems, than their creators may have wanted or been able to
know (Crampton and Krygier 2015). Censors were not as attentive to maps as they were to other texts,
with the possible exception of information about military capabilities (Figure 2). The rule is confirmed
by exceptions, such as Kosler’s Map of the Slovenian Land and Regions in the Austrian Empire, which could
Acta geographica Slovenica, 63-2, 2023
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Figure 2: Biased cartographic representation, or cartographic silence, on the basic 1:5,000 topographic map of Slovenia (top) from the time of Yugoslavia
without the military installations that can be seen on the newer map above the name of the settlement (Grosuplje) and on the digital orthophoto (source:
Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia).
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Blaž Komac, Primož Gašperič, Cartographic time travel: Reflecting the past, defining the present, and challenging the future …
not be distributed for several years after its publication in 1852 (Gašperič 2007) because it had the char-
acteristics of a national propaganda map (Fridl and Urbanc 2006).
We cannot be certain that old maps have improved our perception of the world. After all, it was the
appearance of old maps in European culture at the time of the discoveries that contributed to the limited
and one-sided view of the realities of the Earth at that time. The changing perception of their importance
can be seen in the shift of focus of the prime meridian through centuries, as well as in the different ways
in which maps were graphically focused. In antiquity Jerusalem was the focus, in medieval Islamic car-
tography Mecca, and even today we know of maps that focus on one part of the world (e.g., Australia; Harley
and Woodward 1987). In every age and in every part of the world, the dominant perspective of maps has
also reflected the dominance of certain countries or cultures, while neglecting or even distorting the images
of others. Today’s state of global culture is characterized by digital maps oriented in every direction and
accessible to everyone through electronic devices connected to the global navigation satellite systems (such
as GPS).
Old maps are not so much an accurate representation of the real world, but a representation of the real-
ity that they co-create (Pickles 2004). Contemporary readings of old maps depend on knowledge, insight,
experience, social and cultural background, personal opinions, and other circumstances (Fridl and
Urbanc 2006). Old maps are a representation of the real world but also a representation of reality as per-
ceived at a particular point in time, and they co-create that reality (Pickles 2004). Therefore, maps are
a valuable source of information about historical political-geographical and spatial relationships and a source
of information about the culture, society, and values of the past – and the present. Although old maps show
the configuration of the Earth’s surface in the past, they can help us understand how people understood
the world at that time, which in turn helps us understand the present. Old maps thus provide a justifica-
tion for the values and identities of contemporary societies and are important for the study of history,
sociology, and geography (Wood 1992; Fridl and Urbanc 2006).
2.3 Old maps as the root of fantasy maps
Old maps shape the past or its image, but, on the other hand, they also obscure the past in which they were
created. They are like a palimpsest (Komac 2009), on which only the upper layer of the map is always vis-
ible to the reader as a text or image. The choice of the territory represented, the division of territories into
units, the cartographic symbols used, the language and geographical names used, and the absence of some
cartographic elements, create a limited picture of the terrestrial reality of a historical period. The content
is presented by the client and the cartographer in a unidirectional and limited manner. Therefore, old maps
would be classified as »informing« on Arnstein’s (1969) scale, which is only the third of eight levels of par-
ticipation (Nared and Bole 2020).
On the other hand, it is the limitations of the image, the obscuring or non-appearance of certain ele-
ments, that open the view to new worlds. They have made it possible to move away from the map of the
actual surface of the Earth in a historical era, which is itself a sort of a fantasy map, a map of imagined
worlds that are not real, because of limited perception and knowledge. Old maps may have awakened the
desire to explore distant places, and the imagination and curiosity to explore imaginary landscapes, already
at the time they were created.
It is no coincidence that the image of formal old maps, some of which are true works of art with their
artistic components, has become the characteristic image of fantasy maps (Gašperič and Komac 2020).
From today’s perspective, the old maps are flawed, often distorted and inaccurate. They contain general-
ized cartographic symbols (e.g., molehills for hills, deciduous trees for forest, and images of buildings for
settlements) that are illustrative, easy to read, and visually pleasing (compared to more modern conven-
tional cartographic symbols). Because they do not include all the details of the territory depicted, they awaken
the reader’s emotions and imagination (Gašperič and Babič 2023).
Fantasy maps show lands that exist only in the imagination. They seem to be an addition to imagi-
native stories, although they are also an important part of them; this can be seen, for example, in Tolkein’s
works (Padrón 2007). They show fictional, imagined landscapes (Cooper and Gregory 2010; Daniels 2011),
but they have all the qualities of real maps: location, locale, and a sense of place (Bushell 2016). Old maps
were originally associated with art rather than science (Rees 1980; Ferdinand 2019), and they then became
technicized and reapproximated to art through imaginary maps as »map art« (Wood 2006).
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Old maps have become »imaginary« – or, in other words, imaginary maps have become the pinnacle
of historicism in mapmaking. The lands depicted do not exist in the real world but are imagined as »Neverland.«
This makes it easier to understand why old maps have helped (re)construct imaginary landscapes in the
totality of their space and time. Maps are of-the-moment, bursting into being through practices (embod-
ied, social, technical), always re-made every time they are engaged with. Maps are transitory and fleeting,
being contingent, relational and context-dependent (Kitchin, Gleeson and Dodge 2012).
Because of this, landscapes are marked with realistic cartographic symbols, which makes it easier for
the reader to establish spatial contact and follow the story. Fantasy maps add an important dimension to
stories by giving the appearance of reality (Ekman 2013). Old maps, which represent a distinct visual lan-
guage, have evolved from an originally technical commodity to the basis for language-based word creations.
In this way, they anchor fantasies in the real world (Sundmark 2014). This cultural phenomenon also tran-
scends languages and has a universal meaning as it recreates and represents landscapes (Harmon 2004).
2.4 Old maps as a challenge for the future
In the modern, digital age, old maps offer unprecedented opportunities for discovering different levels of
meaning in terms of content, technology, and symbolism. Geographic information systems (GIS) make
it possible to bridge the gap between historical and traditional cartography and the cartography of the future,
which is limited to a digital replica of planet Earth (Gao and Cao 2021; Novak and Ostash 2022). The evo-
lution of cartographic representations can be traced from 1) maps and atlases that have a specific scale
and projection to 2) globes, which allow one to view the hemisphere from different perspectives but not
change the scale, and 3) GIS and geoportals, which allow one to choose the scale and the projection, to
4) a multi-resolution and three-dimensional digital Earth (Gore 1998), where we are not constrained by
projection or scale (Eremchenko 2020), and 5) a historical digital Earth showing changes in the past to
the as yet unknown 6) AI-driven digital Earth, digital Earth with near-live and live data presentation. Like
the crystal ball from Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita, it has all the elements of a digital Earth:
it shows live action in color, it shows the whole or part (zoom), it allows us to see the future (modeling),
but it does not yet contain sound (Siepmann, Edler and Kühne 2021):
Near Woland was a strange globe, lit from one side, which seemed almost alive . . . . My globe
is much more convenient, especially as I need exact information. Do you see that little speck
of land, for instance, washed by the sea on one side? Look, it’s just bursting into flames. War
has broken out there. If you look closer, you’ll see it in detail. Margarita leaned towards the
globe and saw that the little square of land was growing bigger, emerging in natural colours and
turning into a kind of relief map. Then she saw a river and a village beside it. A house the size
of a pea grew until it was as large as a matchbox . . . . »What are you looking at?« asked Berlioz.
»I’m looking at your future,« said the man. (Bulgakov 1967)
Old maps provide insight into the past and allow interpretation of the social, political, and economic con-
ditions of the time. Their digitization makes it possible to preserve their images and use them in GIS and
digital environments (Li 2019). Despite the relatively low accuracy of some old maps, this allows for a dynam-
ic visual representation of the evolution of a landscape over time (Lafreniere and Rivet 2010), down to deep
time (Zahirovic et al. 2019). Digitized historical maps also make analytical research possible: by overlay-
ing and integrating old maps with other data layers (Madry 2006), all kinds of analyses of relationships
with natural and social landscape features can be conducted at different spatial scales. Together with the
temporal dynamics, this allows the detection and analysis of landscape patterns that would otherwise be
invisible and unknown. Old maps thus gain contextual depth, and their utility is extended through digi-
tization (Capolupo et al. 2020). Virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence will allow their
use in real time – live in situ (Figure 3), as already suggested in fantasy films, such as Narnia: The Voyage
of the Dawn Treader.
In the digital age, old maps become important for cartography, geography, and their auxiliary sciences,
such as history and archeology. They make it possible to analyze changes in land use, the development of
routes and settlements, and changes in coastlines and watercourses (Lelo 2014; Nobajas 2014; Polczynski
and Polczynski 2021), all of which are landscape elements that are also depicted with specific symbols on
Acta geographica Slovenica, 63-2, 2023
15
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Blaž Komac, Primož Gašperič, Cartographic time travel: Reflecting the past, defining the present, and challenging the future …
old maps. Thus, this special issue offers an analysis of cartographic elements (Gašperič 2023), which is an
important first step toward further steps of digitization of old maps and their analysis. Digital historical
maps will add a temporal dimension to the emerging multiresolution and three-dimensional »digital Earth«
(Baturin, Eremchenko and Zakharova 2019), which is not a map but an unsigned (with non-signs) rep-
resentation with dynamically integrated visual (images, video, 3D-models), auditory (music, audio), and
abstract (text, numbers, symbols) information (Table 1).
The digital age also brings uncertainties: the maps produced today are available on the internet, which
has the character of impermanence. In Slovenia, there is the case of a portal for territorial maps, whose
updating was stopped due to a shift in the focus of the company. Prints are rare, but this is the form in
which old maps have survived over the centuries. With digital maps, we do not even have the experience
of decades of archiving, and the file format is constantly changing. Another challenge is that the digital
Earth will reduce the need for cartographic symbols. We will have to rethink cartography because the dig-
itization of maps and geographic environments may cause cartographic symbols to become obsolete or
disappear. Paradoxically, this will unexpectedly dramatically increase the information content of the net-
work-centered digital Earth compared to earlier print and digital maps. This new way of representing the
global environment will provide previously unimaginable detail and can be called a geospatial revolution
(Eremchenko 2022). Old maps in the era of T-O maps exhibited a remarkable degree of generalization,
which was not due to a low level of understanding, but to the idea of separating the four essential elements
(the circle of the Oikumene, surrounded by the sea-ocean, into Europe, Africa and Asia) from the multi-
tude of others (Eremchenko 2016). The maps later became spatially and visually precise and formed the
basis for modern cartography. In the new digital era, old maps become an important part of the scale-free,
holistic geospatial environment in which geography can play a leading role.
16
Maps, GIS Atlases Globes
Digital Earth
Digital Earth
Historical Live
Figure 3: The transition from old maps to a digital Earth with spatial and temporal resolution (Eremchenko 2020, 5; NASA Johnson Space Center Gateway
to Astronaut Photography of Earth, Visible Earth).
63-2_acta49-1.qxd  4.12.2023  6:25  Page 16
Acta geographica Slovenica, 63-2, 2023
17
Ta
ble
 1:
 Ch
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63-2_acta49-1.qxd  4.12.2023  6:25  Page 17
Blaž Komac, Primož Gašperič, Cartographic time travel: Reflecting the past, defining the present, and challenging the future …
3 Articles in the special issue
This special issue is dedicated to historical cartography. It sheds light on the meaning, use, and creation of old
maps of Slovenian territory, which accompany us as individuals and as a nation in parallel with our history.
Cartographic elements define the characteristics of a map and are its basic building blocks. They are
represented on the map in the form of cartographic symbols. Therefore, we have taken them as the basis
for the study in the first two articles of this issue. The first article, »A new standardized methodology for
analyzing cartographic information on old maps« by Gašperič (2023), presents a new methodology for
analyzing old maps to identify and interpret their cartographic symbols. It analyzes fifty-eight maps, dat-
ing from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries, showing the territory of Slovenia at scales ranging from
1:200,000 to 1:900,000. For each map, about eighty entries were made, and several thousand pieces of data
were collected, which required a uniform and systematic study of all cartographic symbols on the select-
ed maps. Before the nineteenth century, changes were most evident in the symbols for vegetation, relief,
and transport networks. The article concludes with an indication of the reliability of the new method for
studying maps and to determine the causal relationship between cartographic elements and map content.
The overall design of the survey and the data obtained are unique in historical cartography.
The second article, »The semiotics of cartographic symbols on old maps« by Gašperič and Babič (2023),
analyzes selected cartographic symbols on five old maps depicting the territory of Slovenia from the six-
teenth to the nineteenth century. A  semiotic approach was applied to establish connections between
cartographic symbols on old maps and the characteristics of society at the time the maps were created.
This semiotic approach was used to discuss the impact of the interpretation of four symbolic cartographic
elements, their iconic basis, and the reading of the five maps analyzed. It was found that cartographic sym-
bols changed in line with the development of cartography and the society at the time. Old maps were presented
as the primary source for the study of history and environmental phenomena. Due to the development
and demands of a changing society, cartographic symbols have gradually transformed into symbolic signs
(in the semiotic sense), including the quality of map representation.
The third and fourth articles focus on important cartographic works and their authors that influenced
Slovenian geography and cartography in the second half of the nineteenth century. The article »Traditional
and modern cartographic materials for geography teaching: From Blaž Kocen to the present« by Gašperič
and Bratec Mrvar (2023) presents cartographic teaching materials used in two different periods: the sec-
ond half of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the 2020s. During the first period examined, the
works of Blaž Kocen (also Blasius Kozenn) laid the foundations of school cartography in the Habsburg
Monarchy. The most highly valued among them in central Europe were his atlases, which have the longest
tradition of publishing in the world. In the second period, technological development and the COVID-19
pandemic laid the foundations for a faster transition to digital approaches to teaching. This article exam-
ines the use of maps, atlases, and textbooks by Slovenian geography teachers to determine whether modern
(digital) teaching materials have replaced or will replace traditional (paper) ones. It was established that
the use of printed cartographic materials continues to predominate in geography teaching, which indi-
rectly preserves the importance of Kocen’s pioneering and visionary work.
The last article, by Perko (2023) is about »The first world atlas in Slovenian in the history of world
atlases and Slovenia’s present territory in some of them«. It was published between 1869 and 1877, when
the vast majority of Slovenians lived in Austria-Hungary. Atlant was edited by the lawyer and linguist Matej
Cigale (1819–1889). The atlas was published between 1869 and 1877, and eighteen maps were published
in six volumes. Because the atlas was never bound into a book, a facsimile was published in 2005 under
the name Atlant, which also includes a companion book. Matej Cigale performed pioneering work in the
Slovenianization of geographical names and the preservation of Slovenian exonyms. This cartographic
achievement influenced later world atlases and is an important part of Slovenian cultural heritage.
4 Conclusion
This special issue of volume 63 of Acta geographica Slovenica emphasizes the role of old maps, which are
both the basis and the result of geographical research. These maps are not only one of the first languages
of communication (Casti 2000), but also an outstanding written and visual language of geography. They
18
63-2_acta49-1.qxd  4.12.2023  6:25  Page 18
are a valuable source of information about historical, political-geographical, and spatial relations in his-
tory, and they are also bearers of cultural values and the identity of contemporary societies, and thus an
important element of cultural heritage (Gašperič and Zorn 2020). Cartography is the science and tech-
nique of producing maps and map-related products as digital or analog models of (virtual) reality. The discipline
focuses on 1) map graphics (semiotics as the language of cartography), 2) epistemological aspects: model-
ing and object relations in space and time (ontology), and 3) spatiotemporal communication (Kainz 2020).
Old maps were a landmark and reference document in the discovery of the world, and they contributed
to the spread of Western ecumenism and later to the exchange of cultures. They showed and communi-
cated where the boundaries of the corresponding »civilized« world, the ecumene, lay. Just as they are defined
on the one hand by the world at the time of their creation, they are also important for contemporary per-
ceptions of the past. They help us better understand how people in the past understood the world, and
thus better understand the present – and, with the help of digital (geographic) information systems and
modeling, the future.
Old maps have become the inspiration for imaginary maps, depicting lands that exist only in the imag-
ination but feature real cartographic symbols that complement the stories and create a cultural phenomenon
that crosses linguistic and cultural boundaries.
The articles in this special issue present an original method for cartographic analysis of maps, the semi-
otics of cartographic symbols on old maps, the use of cartographic methods in education, and the first
world atlas in Slovenian. This special issue of Acta geographica Slovenica highlights the importance and
impact of old maps on social development, art, and geography, raises new questions, and lays the foun-
dation for new research in this field. The definition of informatics, now identified with signs, must be
redefined, increasing the role of scientific visualization. The transformation of maps to the digital Earth
and of signs into non-signs or zero signs presents a rich research area and challenges us to rethink fun-
damental aspects of geographical knowledge and representation.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: The authors acknowledge financial support from the Slovenian Research and
Innovation Agency, research core funding Geography of Slovenia (P6-0101). 
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