Ground plan of a palace quarter served by canals
An urban block with royal court, stable and offices, washed by canals
The sheet is dominated by an inked ground plan of a building complex, its walls hatched, laid out around courtyards and rooms. Notes at the top list the entertainments of the quarter (ball games, jousts, naval battles) and explain how numerous canals wash the streets clean by producing the mills' back-flow in the upper part of the city. Labels within the plan mark the boats housed below, two squares united into one, and the stable, officials' rooms and royal court. The page belongs to Leonardo's studies for a well-serviced, sanitary city.
On this page
Palace plan: stable, offices and royal court
Labels set into the ground plan identify the boats housed below, a stable, the officials' rooms and the royal court, and note that two squares are united into one. The plan lays out the principal parts of a princely quarter.
Canals that scour the streets
A note explains that numerous canals clean the quarter efficiently, washing the streets by producing the back-flow of the mills in the upper part of the city. It ties water supply to urban sanitation.
Hatched ground plan around courtyards
The main drawing is a measured ground plan with thick hatched walls enclosing rooms and open courts. It occupies the lower two-thirds of the leaf.