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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Very informative, as usual,. Di!
ReplyDeleteA great choice and introduction to R, Di! I love roads and where they can take us!
ReplyDeleteI certainly have enjoyed the journey in Turkey and on the Silk Road. Thank you Di!
ReplyDeleteOne of the trips that still are on my bucketlist ;-)
ReplyDeleteVery nice photos, good catches of The Silk Road!
ReplyDeleteBrings back memories ! I have done this road too !
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your journey on the Silk Road.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed the Road trip! My "R" is for RABBIT!
ReplyDelete"R" for Right as Rain!
ReplyDeleteHey, I'm doing this time for the first time and I am glad that I post here my link ..
ReplyDeleteYour contribution is fascinating and impressive, a strange world for me.
♥Greetings
Great intro! My "R" stands for RUSSET Autumn leaves.
ReplyDeleteThe Silk Road! How exciting. That's another place I'd like to travel down.
ReplyDeleteI love the dancers!!
ReplyDeleteAlways look forward to your intros...always interesting and informative♪ http://lauriekazmierczak.com/rain-ragged-dandelion/
ReplyDeleteR is for road indeed!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for stopping by and taking the time to comment.
ReplyDeleteI've not been able to reply personally as I have been out of action with
a nasty bug.
Best wishes,
Di.
ABCW team.