Moguntia, Germaniae Metropolis . . .[on sheet with] Herbipolis, comuniter Wirtzburg . . .Sedunum, primaria & Metropolitica. . .

A fine antique sheet with three panoramic and bird's-eye views: Mainz, Würzburg and Sion/Sitten [Switzerland]. From: 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum', Liber Primus.

MAINZ. TRANSLATION OF CARTOUCHE TEXT: Mainz, a German capital, is highly famed and lies on the banks of the Rhine; it is renowned for its many merchants, it's clergy and its university.
COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Mainz is one of the noblest capitals in the land of Germany; it lies in a favourable location where the Main, arriving from Franconia, meets the Rhine from the uplands. On both sides of the Rhine there is fertile land and delicious good wine.
There is no other city on the River Rhine with more antiquities than Mainz. The city lies under the authority of the archbishop, who is also one of the seven Electors. Mainz also has a university, which was founded by Diether von Isenburg in 1477. ... The art of printing was invented here, but one might dispute whether this has produced more good or bad."
The view of Mainz is seen from the Mainspitze, one of the loviest spots at the confluence of the Main and the Rhine.
The city skyline is dominated by towers and steeples. Mainz's important Roman heritage from its 2,000-year-old past as Mogontiacum, a Roman legionary base, is not illustrated; instead we are shown the well-fortified city wall, whose towers - which include the Holzturm, Fischturm and Eisenturm fronting the Rhine - establish an intresting architectural contrast with the church spires.
Lying close together in the city centre are the Liebfrauenkirche, the Romanesque St Martin's cathedral and to its right St John's church. Beside the Rhine on the far right is the bishop's house, or Martinsburg.

WÜRZBURG. CARTOUCHE: Herbipolis, commonly known as Würzburg, capital of East Franconia.
COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Würzburg is the capital of East Franconia and takes its name from the sweet grapes yielded by the surrounding fields. This city lies on a plain but is surrounded on all sides by hills, vineyards, gardens and meadows. The city is very well furnished both with sacred and with secular buildings and has a large number of inhabitants."
Würzburg is seen in cavalier perspective and is depicted so accurately that the streets of the present-day Old Town can be recognized without difficulty. The district on the far side of the Main is seen in side view. Würzburg's most famous landmark is the Marienberg fortress (Unser Frawenberg) on the hill of the same name, which served as the residence of the prince-bishops from 1253 to 1720.
In a straight line below the old Main bridge is the Romanesque St Kilian's cathedral (Thum stifft), to the right of which is the Neumünster with its two choirs, and diagonally above the Gothic St Mary's chapel (Unser Frawyn Kapel) on Unterer Markt square.
In the 16th century Würzburg formed a major commercial hub within the Main-Franconia region. It is clear from both Braun's text and the engraving that the city's most important export was wine.

SION (SITTEN). CARTOUCHE: Sion, first city and capital of the Valais, is famous owing to the frequent visits it is paid by the Germans and French.
COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "The hill on the right-hand side, with the Rhà´ne running past it, is called Valeria; it was formerly a fortress, but is now an episcopal collegiate church. The bishop's seat is on the left-hand hill, on whose summit stands a handsome and well-fortified castle, where the prince and his court take up residence when the lower palace becomes too hot. The countryside around Sion is extremely fertile and produces wine, saffron, cheese and other necessities of life."
The view of Sion is incorrectly drawn in terms of perspective. The skyline is dominated by the two mountains with the castles of Majoria and Valeria. On the right-hand summit lies the basilica of Notre-Dame-de-Valà¨re, which houses the oldest playable organ in the world, dating from the 15th century.
As Braun notes, the highly valuable spice saffron was cultivated in the region around Sion in the Valais. The city's history was shaped by the bishopric that was founded here in the 6th century AD and by Sion's position as capital of the Swiss canton of Valais (Taschen).
The three views are engraved after a views in Münster's 'Cosmographia', 1550.

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, 2581 State 2; Taschen, Braun and Hogenberg, p.100.