R stands for Roads

The Silk Road or long road (Uzun Yol) is the historic system of caravan trails through Turkey, Persia (Iran), India and China that allows trade to prosper and cultures to come into contact over the centuries.

 We travelled along The Silk Road to visit the ancient city of Konya, the spiritual home to the Whirling Dervishes,  I wrote about  the Dervishes on a previous ABCW 'W' post.

The Whirling  Dervishes.

The Selimiye Mosque in Konya.

The trip along the Silk Road was quite a dreary journey until we arrived at the most beautiful ancient city of Konya, a just reward for sitting in a rickety old coach for what seemed like an eternity.  

The journeys and conquests of Alexander The Great probably created The Silk Road, where armies march, merchants quickly follow. After their Parthian campaigns, the Romans developed a liking for silk and fostered trade along the route of The Silk Road. The Byzantines loved the luxuries of the Orient and did what they could to keep them coming. The Seljuk Turks did even better, improving roads and building beautiful Caravanserais to encourage trade with the east.

 The Caravanserais is a resting place for the weary travellers and merchants.

They provided food and beds and also the ubiquitous Hamam (Turkish Bath).



 



The Sultan Han built in the 1230's a striking old Seljuk  Caravanserais it is a fine example  of a Seljuk royal caravan lodging and the second  largest in Anatolia.

 

I have come to the end  of a very long road and hope you have enjoyed my journey through a most spectacular country.

  ...My sincere thanks to the Radiant Denise for devising ABCW and also to our most Revered Roger for his hard work in the administration of ABCW.

 



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