Vegel. / Velis Malaga.

Two panoramic town-views of Vejer de la Frontera (top half) and Vélez-Málaga (bottom half) on one page.
From the greatest publication in this genre!. The Civitates was compiled and written by George Braun, Canon of Cologne Cathedral. Braun gathered together vast amounts of information and draft plans to produce over 500 city views/maps published in six parts between 1572 and 1617.
Most of these engravings were made by Simon Novellanus and Frans Hogenberg, after a drawing by Joris Hoefnagel.

VEJER DE LA FRONTERA
Comment by Georg Braun: "Vejer is a small but superb town in Hispania Baetica, due to its position and its fine buildings. Not far from this little town the sea is so narrow that it measures scarcely 700 paces across. This strait divides Europe from Africa and the Spaniards call it the Estrecho de Gibraltar in their language, but otherwise it is known as the Herculean Sea."

The view shows the Strait of Gibraltar. While the River Barbate can be discerned on the left, the Rock of Gibraltar is visible above Vejer de la Frontera and in the distance the African shoreline, ending on the far right with Cape Espartel. Lying in front of the cape is the large expanse of the Atlantic. From 711 Vejer de la Frontera was in the hands of the Moors, until it was recaptured by Ferdinand III in 1248. The city wall goes back to this period. The church depicted is Divino Salvador, built in the 14th century on the site of the earlier mosque and extended in the Gothic style 200 years later.

VÉLEZ-MÁLAGA
Comment by Georg Braun: "Vélez-Málaga is a graceful little town in Spain, five stones's throw from Málaga and half a mile from the Mediterranean. It has an imposing castle, built long ago by the Moors. The mountains around this little town are so high and steep that one can easily see from the top the Herculean Sea, the mountains and several towns in Barbary [area in North Africa where the Berbers live] and in Africa the two cities of Ceuta and Tangier."

The view shows Vélez-Málaga with the Sierra Tjeda in the background; the fortress perched on a hill was built under Moorish rule in the 13th century. While the city was known as Menoba in the time of the Roman Empire, the Moors later renamed it Ballix-Malaca, fortress of Málaga. In 1487 Ferdinand III succeeded in recapturing the city. A large part of the city wall was destroyed by Napoleon's soldiers in the Spanish War of Independence. The Andalusian city of Vélez-Málaga, together with the district of Torre de Mar, is today one of the most popular bathing resorts on the Costa del Sol. (Taschen)