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The Hereford Mappa Mundi is a world-map of a form deriving from the T and O pattern. Drawn on a single sheet of vellum, it is the largest medieval map known to still exist. It depicts 420 towns, 15 Biblical events, 33 animals and plants, 32 people, and 5 scenes from classical mythology.
Jerusalem is drawn at the centre of the circle, east is on top, showing the Garden of Eden in a circle at the edge of the world. The Red Sea and the Mediterranean occupy its lower half; Crete and its Labyrinth is prominent. Europe is bottom left; Paris and Rome are both named and Britain is a long island in the sea. But this is essentially a symbolic world, conveying the truths of history and theology above those of geography.
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