Cities along the Silk Road
This articles lists cities located along the Silk Road. The Silk Road was a network of ancient trade routes which connected Europe with China, spanning from the Mediterranean Sea to the Korean Peninsula and Japan.
The Silk Road's eastern end is in present-day China, and its main western end is Antioch. The Silk Road started about the time of the Han dynasty, when Emperor Wu was ruling. [citation needed]
Along the terrestrial/land Silk Roads
Major cities, broadly from the eastern Mediterranean to South Asia, and arranged roughly west to east in each area by modern-day country
The Silk Roads across the Middle East and Western Asia
Turkey
- Constantinople, ancient Byzantium, (now Istanbul)
- Bursa
- Beypazarı
- Mudurnu
- Taraklı
- Konya
- Adana
- Antioch
- İzmir
- Trabzon
Azerbaijan
Georgia
- Tabriz
- Zanjan
- Rasht
- Kermanshah
- Hamadan
- Rey (or Ray in modern-day Tehran)
- Hecatompylos (Damghan)
- Sabzevar
- Nishapur
- Mashhad
- Tus
- Bam
- Yazd
- Qazvin
- Qumis (Hekatompylos)
Central Asia
- Otrar
- Ispidjab (or Sairum)
- Taraz
- Hazrat-e Turkestan
- Almaty
Southern Routes and South Asia
- Tamralipta (or Tamluk)
- Leh
- Jaisalmer
- Mathura
- Varanasi (or Benares)
- Pataliputra
- Wari-Bateshwar
- Pundranagara
- Vikrampura
- Somapura
- Bhitargarh
- Sonargaon
- Chattagram/Chatgaon/Chittagong
- Comilla/Mainamati/Samatata
- Jahangir Nagar/Dhaka
China: The northern route along the Taklamakan Desert
- Kashgar (or Kashi) (Major City)
- Liqian
- Aksu
- Kucha
- Korla
- Loulan
- Karasahr (Yanqi)
- Turpan (Turfan)
- Gaochang
- Chang'an
- Kumul/Hami
- Ürümqi
- Yumen Pass (or Jade Gate or Pass of the Jade Gate) (city called Yumenguan or Hecang)
- Anxi
China: The southern route along the Taklamakan Desert
- Kashgar (or Kashi) (Major City)
- Pishan
- Khotan
- Niya
- Mingfeng
- Endere
- Charchan
- Waxxari
- Ruoqiang Town (Charklik)
- Miran
- Yangguan, or Yangguan Pass
- Dunhuang
- the Mogao Caves
- Anxi
China: From Anxi/Dunhuang to Chang'an (Xi'an)
- Dunhuang (Major City)
- Jiayuguan
- Jiuquan
- Zhangye
- Shandan
- Liangzhou (Wuwei)
- Tianzhu, Gansu
- Lanzhou
- Tianshui
- Baoji
- Chang'an (modern-day Xi'an)
Along the Indian Ocean trade routes
- Colombo, Sri Lanka
- Tamralipta, West Bengal, India
- Poompuhar, Tamil Nadu, India
- Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
- Korkai, Tamil Nadu, India
- Muziris, Kerala, India
- Goa, India
- Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
- Cochin, Kerala, India
- Masulipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
- Lothal, Gujarat, India
Sudak, Ukraine
- Muscat, Oman
- Aden, Yemen
- Bosaso, Somalia
- Suez, Egypt
- Ayas, Turkey
In Southeast Asia
- Kedah (Early history of Kedah)
- Ligor
- Bolinao, Pangasinan, Philippines
- Malacca
- Vijaya, Champa
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Hoi An, Vietnam
- Perlak, Indonesia