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This article investigates three cartographic representations of the city of Aceh (now Banda Aceh, Indonesia) drawn in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The mappings illustrate very different aesthetic interpretations of Aceh, presenting imaginative visions deliberately constructed for the colonial enterprise. The article examines the diverse motivations for multiple ways of conceiving the same human environments. To what extent did the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century mappings contribute to the construction of Aceh’s architectural and urban history? Using concepts from the study of cartographic history, this article investigates the tangible and intangible aspects of Aceh’s urban form and architecture. The maps have created Aceh’s diverse urban identity and served as a creative way to visualize various historical events in witnesses’ notes. Discrepancies in conceptions of place are brought to light through these maps, encompassing aspects such as building form, location, the objectives behind Aceh’s urban design, and perceived influences ranging from cosmological thinking to the environment.