Urban iconography: landscapes and identities in the representations of Zacatecas during the 18th century

Abstract

Landscape has been a concept that has gained relevance in recent decades through different disciplines such as historical geography, urban planning, architecture and even heritage studies. Understood as an evolving element that is built from the integration of physical and cultural elements, the landscape is presented as a historical continuum that forges imaginaries and identities around a specific territory. The objective of this article is to analyze the evolution of the representation of the city of Zacatecas in order to identify the elements that configured its urban identity. Likewise, it aims to account for how the iconography of the city allows us to reflect the changes in the urban landscape as a result of social, economic or cultural processes in a given territory. For this, four plans of the city of Zacatecas from the 18th century will be analyzed, namely, the Description of the Very Noble and Loyal City of Zacatecas by Joaquín de Sotomayor, the View of Zacatecas by Fray Agustín de Morfi, and the two plans drawn up by the mayor of the Royal Customs Bernardo de Portugal in the context of the division of the city into barracks.