2026 “Heritage at Hand at CroAtrium” event #2 spotlights historical atlas of 18th-century Dalmatia
Spotlighting a gem of the Map Collection of the National and University Library in Zagreb (NSK), the second event of the 2026 Heritage at Hand at CroAtrium programme took its participants on a journey to 18th-century Dalmatia.
Professor at the Zadar University’s Department of Geography Lena Mirošević presented to the event participants Catastico delle Publiche Pradarie e Picchetti, a rare manuscript atlas featuring the cadastral maps of Dalmatia which NSK acquired and added to its holdings in 2025.
The history of a cultural landscape captured in a jewel of cartography
Created in 1756, as part of a cadastral reform undertaken by a Venetian governor Francesco Grimani, the historical atlas’s thirty maps represent a particularly valuable cadastral record with a register of then state-owned land.
In her lecture, Professor Mirošević provided many interesting details about this jewel of cartography and the circumstances surrounding its making. Featuring maps of Benkovac, Drniš, Knin, Sinj, Žrnovnica and other Dalmatian cities and towns, Catastico… offers a unique perspective on the history of Dalmatia’s cultural landscape. Also, it includes a systematic list of individual plots and their users as well as the representation of plots, settlements, paths and natural borders, which all makes it an indispensable documentary record.
Of NSK’s approximately 43,000 cartographic items, Catastico… is among the most valuable. Counted among manuscript and historical material, it is one of more than 1,700 currently digitised NSK’s cartographic treasures. You may search and explore them in 17 collections on the NSK Digital Collections website, where you may also find out about the latest digitised maps and atlases in the Collection.
Spotlighting Croatia’s largest library collection – all through the year
Heritage at Hand at CroAtrium is our central annual programme aimed at the promotion, interpretation and popularisation of the invaluable heritage in NSK’s collections.
This year, apart from the Library’s cartographic treasures, we already presented the musical heritage which we curate, while the upcoming, third event will spotlight Croatica’s artwork on paper.
Stay tuned, our 2026 Heritage at Hand at CroAtrium event #3 is just around the corner!
Photo: © NSK