The Castello Plan: A Super Old Map!

The Castello Plan is a very, very old drawing of a city that used to be called New Amsterdam. It's like a picture from a long, long time ago that shows us what a part of New York City looked like way back then! It was made by a man named Jacques Cortelyou, who was a surveyor.

A surveyor is like a super-duper measurer who draws maps. This map is so old, it's like looking at a picture of your great-great-great-great-grandparents when they were kids!

This amazing map was made a super long time ago, around the year 1660! It stayed hidden in Italy for a really long time, like a secret treasure. Then, in the year 1900, someone found it at a place called the Villa di Castello.

That's how it got its name, the Castello Plan! It was like finding a lost toy from your grandpa's childhood. It's so old, it was made before cars, airplanes, or even electricity!

This map is super important because it shows us exactly where buildings and streets were a long, long time ago. It helps us understand how cities grow and change. It's like looking at a puzzle piece that helps us see the whole picture of history. There's even a special monument in New York City today that reminds people of this old map!

After it was made, the map went on a big adventure! It was put inside a special book called an atlas by a mapmaker named Joan Blaeu. He sold this book to a prince in Italy. The map stayed in Italy for hundreds of years until it was found in 1900. Now, people can see it sometimes, and there's even a street named after the person who made the map!