Maps of the great explorers

In this age of Google Earth our aim with this documentary “Maps of the Great Explorers” is to retell the exciting story of the representation of the world.The objects of fantasy and fear, but also of conquest and power, the “new worlds” have haunted men’s imaginations. The representation of the world has developed. To represent the new limits of a region, a country, a continent, or a sea was to control and sometimes even to possess it exclusively. The representation of the world, therefore, became one of the stakes for power and influence. The Republic of Venice, Portugal and Spain were at the forefront of these conquests. Such advances were impossible without instrumentation, the means of transport and positionfinding techniques. However, the essential link wads provided by men with mythic destinies. From Christopher Columbus to James Cook, they set out in search of these unknown lands and their exceptional resources. Out of a sense of mission, pure vocation, these famous discoverers tirelessly travelled the globe, its seas and its territories in the quest for knowledge, fame and fortune.