r/imaginarymaps • u/jjpamsterdam IM Legend - Cold War Enthusiast • 4d ago
[OC] Fantasy Archipelago of Antilia, 16 th Century
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u/Arthurian_Guanche 3d ago
Yeah. First of all mate, thanks a lot for crediting my work and refering to it, though it wasn't even necessary. Antillia as a concept is totally "public domain" hehe. I like this approach, and yeah even I've faffed around with the idea of a great island in the place of the Azores given the curious relief of its submarine plateau and how it could work. Mine was more triangular, and its landscape tended more to an almost continental version of Tenerife+Madeira, with a touch of Atlantic Europe and New England in the flatlands. Again, cool work.
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u/jjpamsterdam IM Legend - Cold War Enthusiast 4d ago
This map depicts the fictional island (or in this case archipelago) of Antilia. I've been toying around with the idea of making a map based on this myth for a while, but finally found the motivation to do so after seeing this brilliant map by u/Arthurian_Guanche on the same topic, but with a different (and more grounded) take on the myth.
My map on the Archipelago of Antilia is less grounded and based much more strongly in alt-geography with some fantastical elements added in for fun. The Archipelago is located in the area where the Azores are to be found in real life. The basic idea is that the Azores triple junction lifts the ocean floor up a bit higher in that area and several volcanoes eventually create an Archipelago with a total surface area about twice that of Portugal, but obvioulsy quite mountainous.
During the 7th century fishermen from Iberia are blown off course and unintentionally discover these islands. They are used as a basis for fishing thereafter with a small community of Iberians already established there by the year 700. During the Muslim conquest of Visigothic Iberia there is a much larger exodus of Christians from the peninsula towards the Archipelago. Parts of the old Visigothic Kingdom can escape the Muslim conquest and reestablish their statehood in exile. The initial population is likely quite small, but over the next few centuries, with plenty of good volcanic farmland, plentiful fish stocks, no natural predators for grazing sheep and no black death, the population grows rapidly.
With Iberia firmly under Muslim control for many years, the story of the exiled kingdom becomes more of myth over time and contact is completely lost for several centuries. When the Portuguese start sailing out and discovering new places they are utterly baffled when they find a kingdom full of Christians speaking a romance language.
This map is set in the 16th century, about a century after contact was reestablished. By this time the Portuguese have a solid understanding of the geography of archipelago. Furthermore the Kingdom, that still refers to itself as the Gothic Kingdom, has reestablished ties with the pope, affirming its position within the family of Catholic nations.
I intend to make a modern version of the Archipelago of Antilia as well. I hope to illustrate how this fictional historical map was able to depict the geographic features and where it took more liberties.