Kosovo and Metohija on old maps from the XV to the XVIII century

Maps of the greatest European cartographers from the XV to the XVIII century are important testimonies to the geostrategic significance of IMP Kosovo and Metohija, which is always denoted as an integral part of Serbia, with special emphasis placed on its rich mine ores, important routes and large Serbian cities. The last shining moment of Serbian economic prosperity in the XV century and Kosovo's wealth in precious metals, the importance and development of its urban centers and its road network, are represented on two unique maps from the workshop of Fra Mauro, from the island of Murano near Venice. Under Turkish rule cartographic knowledge of Kosovo and Metohija was based on records of travelers, merchants, Catholic missionaries. Two themes in the cartography of that period dominate on the images of Kosovo the lost lake with Svrcin castle and the celebrated place of the Battle of Kosovo with Emperor Murat's tomb. From the large cartographic production between the XV and the XVIII century, this paper will deal with the details of important maps depicting Kosovo and Metohija made by Francesco Roselli (1480-1484), Giacomo Gastaldi (1570), Christian Sgrooten (1578), Mania Vincenzo Coronelli (1688), Giacomo Cantelli da Vignola (1689), Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli (1689), Etienne Briffaut (1738), and Carl Schutz (1788).