The Forgotten Cities of the Silk Road

The Forgotten Cities of the Silk Road

The Silk Road was not a single road but a vast and complex network of land and sea routes that connected East Asia with the Mediterranean world for more than a millennium. Along these routes emerged powerful cities that acted as commercial hubs, cultural crossroads, and centers of knowledge. Merchants, monks, diplomats, and scholars passed through them carrying silk, spices, precious metals, religious ideas, scientific knowledge, and artistic tr…