The Silk Road was an ancient network of trade routes that connected many communities of Eurasia(Europe and Asia) by land and sea, stretching from the Mediterranean basin in the west to the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago in the east.
Its main eastern end was in the Chinese city of Chang'an (modern-day Xi'an, China) and its main western end was in the Greek city of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). It came into existence in the 2nd century BCE, when Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty was in power, and lasted until the 15th century CE, when the Ottoman Empire blocked off all the trade routes with Europe after it captured Constantinople and thereby conquered the Byzantine Empire.
This article lists the cities along the Silk Road, sorted by region and the modern-day countries in which they are located. thumb|Map of the [[Silk Road, 1st century CE]]
Terrestrial/land routes through Eurasia
Major cities, broadly from the Eastern Mediterranean to South Asia, and arranged roughly west to east in each area.
West Asia
Turkey
- Constantinople, ancient Byzantium (now Istanbul)
- Bursa
- Beypazarı
- Mudurnu
- Taraklı
- Konya
- Adana
- Antioch
- İzmir
- Trabzon
Azerbaijan
- Baku
- Shamakhi
- Barda
Georgia
- Tbilisi (Tiflis)
- Batumi (Batoum)
- Poti
Armenia
- Yerevan
Lebanon
- Tyre
Syria
- Aleppo
- Tartus
- Homs
- Damascus
- Palmyra
- Raqqa
- Dura Europos
Iraq
- Mosul
- Erbil
- Samarra
- Fallujah
- Baghdad
- Ctesiphon
- Baquba
Iran
- 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
Turkmenistan
- Nisa
- Merv
- Urgench thumb|Ruins of [[Muhammad II of Khwarezm|Muhammad II's palace in Old Urgench.]]
- Amul
Uzbekistan
- Bukhara
- Shahrisabz
- Samarkand
- Tashkent
- Kokand (Fergana Valley)
- Andijon (Fergana Valley)
Tajikistan
- Khujand (Fergana Valley)
- Istaravshan
Kazakhstan
- Otrar
- Ispidjab (or Sairum)
- Taraz
- Hazrat-e Turkestan thumb|The [[Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasavi in the town of Hazrat-e Turkestan. Built by Timur in the 1390s.]]
- Almaty
Kyrgyzstan
- Issyk kul
- Tokmok
- Bishkek
- Osh
South Asia
Afghanistan
- Bactra (Balkh)
- Herat
- Alexandria Arachosia (Kandahar)
- Bamyan
- Kabul
Pakistan
- Peshawar
- Pushkalavati
- Takshashila
- Multan
- Banbhore/Barbarikon
- Debal/Patala
India
- Tamralipta (or Tamluk)
- Leh
- Jaisalmer
- Mathura
- Varanasi (or Benares)
- Pataliputra
Nepal
- Kathmandu – see also Patan & Bhaktapur
Bangladesh
- Wari-Bateshwar
- Pundranagara
- Vikrampura
- Somapura
- Bhitargarh
- Sonargaon
- Chattagram/Chatgaon/Chittagong
- Comilla/Mainamati/Samatata
- Jahangir Nagar/Dhaka
Bhutan
- Jakar
- Paro
thumb|The chain of cities along the northern route along the Taklamakan, probably based on [[Bento de Góis's itinerary, from Hiarcan (Yarkand) to Cialis (Karasahr or Korla) to Sucieu (Suzhou, Gansu)]]
East Asia
China: the northern route along the Taklamakan Desert
thumb|Map of eastern [[Xinjiang with prehistoric sites and the courses of the Folke Bergman, 1939]]
- Kashgar (or Kashi) (Major City)
- Liqian
- Aksu
- Kucha
- Korla
- Loulan
- Karasahr (Yanqi)
- Turpan (Turfan)
- Jiaohe Ruins
- Turpan Water Museum
- Gaochang
- the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
- 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)
thumb|The ruins of a [[Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) Chinese watchtower made of rammed earth at Dunhuang, Gansu province, the eastern edge of the Silk Road]]
- Dunhuang (Major City)
- Jiayuguan
- Jiuquan
- Zhangye
- Shandan
- Liangzhou (Wuwei)
- Tianzhu, Gansu
- Lanzhou
- Tianshui
- Baoji
- Chang'an (modern-day Xi'an)
Maritime routes to or along the Indian Ocean
South Asia
Pakistan
- Debal
- Barbarikon
- Banbhore
China
- Ningbo, China
- Fuzhou, China
- Quanzhou, China
- Guangzhou, China
Bangladesh
- Chittagong, Bangladesh
Sri Lanka
- Colombo, Sri Lanka
India
- 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
Southern and Eastern Europe
Ukraine
- Sudak, Ukraine
Russia
- Astrakhan, Russia
- Derbent, Russia
Italy
- Venice, Italy
- Rome, Italy
West Asia
Oman
- Muscat, Oman
Yemen
- Aden, Yemen
Turkey
- Ayas, Turkey
Northeast Africa
Somalia
- hafun, Somalia
Egypt
- Suez, Egypt
Southeast Asia
Indonesia
- Perlak, Indonesia
Malaysia
- Kedah (Early history of Kedah)
- Malacca
Philippines
- Bolinao, Pangasinan, Philippines
Thailand
- Ligor
Vietnam
- Vijaya, Champa
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Hoi An, Vietnam
List by Claudius Ptolemy
This following list is attributed to Ptolemy. All city names are Ptolemy's, throughout all his works. Most of the names are included in Geographia.
Some of the cities provided by Ptolemy either: no longer exist today or have moved to different locations.
Nevertheless, Ptolemy has provided an important historical reference for researchers.
(This list has been alphabetized.)
- Africa
- East Africa – Akhmim, Aromaton Emporion, Axum, Coloe, Dongola, Juba, Maji, Opone, Panopolis, Sarapion, Sennar.
- North Africa – Caesarea, Carthage, Cyrene, Leptis Magna, Murzuk, Sijilmassa, Tamanrasset, Tingis.
- Arabia – Cane, Eudaemon Arabia, Mokha, Mosylon, Sanaa, Zafar (Saphar), Saue.
- Bangladesh – Sounagaora.
- China – Cattigara, Chengdu, Kaifeng, Qitai, Kunming, Yarkand.
- Europe – Aquileia, Athens, Augusta Treverorum (Trier), Gades (Cádiz), Ostia.
- India – Argaru, Astakapra, Bacare, Balita, Barake, Byzantion, Colchi, Erannoboas, Horaia, Kalliena, Mandagora, Melizeigara, Muziris, korkai, Poompuhar, Naura, Nelcynda, Paethana, Palaepatmae, Palaesimundu, Poduca, Semylla, Sopatma, Suppara, Tagara, Tymdis.
- Pakistan – Barbaricum, Peshawar, Taxila
- Persia – Alexandria Areion, Kandahar, Persepolis.
- Persian Gulf – Apologos, Asabon, Charax, Gerrha (or Gerra), Ommana.
- Red Sea – Adulis, Aualites, Berenica, Malao, ancient Berbera, Mokha, Myos Hormos, Ocalis, Ptolemais Theron.
- Southeast Asia – Kattigara (Oc Eo), Thaton, Trang.
- Unknown – Ecbatana (located in either modern Iran or Syria), Jiaohei.
See also
- Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor
- Silk Road transmission of Buddhism
- Silk Road transmission of art
- Silk Road numismatics