Basilea. (Basel)

A decorative map with a striking birds-eye plan of Basel by Braun and Hogenberg, with key to locations. From: 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum, ... Part 2'. Köln, 1575.
COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "The city of Basle consists of two parts, one side, which is on the French side, is called Greater Basle and is very old and has a bishopric; it existed already at the time when the Romans were there. The smaller city on the German side has been linked to the greater part by a splendid bridge over the flowing Rhine. [...]
No one who has seen this city can deny that it justly called a royal city, "Baslea", due to its fine straight streets and its neatly arranged and well-positioned buildings, all of which are magnificent and beautifully embellished, with lovely, charming gardens, this is where the monastery of St Peter and the Preachers' Monastery are found."
Basle is shown here from the northwest in a bird's-eye view appropriate to its size. In the foreground is Lesser Basle, on the far side of the bridge over the Rhine Greater Basle protected by a double circular wall, with the late Romanesque and Gothic minster (1) with its two characteristic towers on the west façade, the collegiate church of St Peter (3), the stately town hall with its high tower (4), the university founded in 1460 (6), the Dominican monastery (19, on the right) and the paper mill (12, top left).

The Roman town of Augusta Raurica was founded in 44/43 BC; the name Basilea is first mentioned in AD 374. Basle was recorded as a bishopric in 740. In 1356 one of the biggest earthquakes north of the Alps destroyed most of the city; in addition a disastrous fire broke out.
In 1460 Pope Pius II endowed the University of Basle, the oldest university in Switzerland. This attracted many scholars and humanists (Erasmus of Rotterdam, Hans Holbein the Younger, Paracelsus) and Basle became a centre of printing and publishing (Froben).
In 1471 Emperor Friedrich III granted Basle the right to hold fairs. After the Swabian War against Emperor Maximilian I in 1499, Basle became independent from the Empire, joining the Old Swiss Confederation together with Schaffhausen in 1501.
In 1529 the city accepted the reformed faith and the bishop had to leave the city. Around 1600 Basle had about 12,000 inhabitants, but between 1550 and 1611 there were several outbreaks of the plague and a third of the population died.

The 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum', or the "Braun & Hogenberg", is a six-volume town atlas and the greatest book of town views and plans ever published: 363 engravings, sometimes beautifully colored. It was one of the best-selling works in the last quarter of the 16th century. Georg Braun wrote the text accompanying the plans and views on the verso.
A large number of the plates were engraved after the original drawings of Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600), who was a professional artist. The first volume was published in Latin in 1572, the sixth volume in 1617.
Frans Hogenberg created the tables for volumes I through IV, and Simon van den Neuwel created those for volumes V and VI. Other contributors were cartographer Daniel Freese, and Heinrich Rantzau. Works by Jacob van Deventer, Sebastian Münster, and Johannes Stumpf were also used. Translations appeared in German and French.

Reference: Van der Krogt 4, 395; Taschen, Braun and Hogenberg, p. 176.