This interactive map traces the Silk Road as a network, not a single line: six major corridors, thirty-seven cities, and the goods, faiths and ideas that moved between them. Filter branches, search for a city, open a card — or read the full picture below.
The Silk Road was never one road. For over one and a half thousand years — roughly from the second century BCE to the sixteenth century CE — a shifting web of caravan tracks, mountain passes and sea lanes connected China with the Mediterranean. Silk gave the network its modern name, coined by the geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen only in 1877, but paper, glass, horses, faiths and epidemics travelled it just as surely.
The map plots the six major corridors of that network over today's political borders, so you can see exactly which modern countries the old roads cross. Line weights and city markers reflect relative importance; the corridors are schematic — historical caravan tracks shifted with wars, dynasties and water, and no single fixed route ever existed.
Northern Oasis Route
Era: II в. до н.э. — XV в. н.э. · Length: ~7 000 км · Travel time: 6–8 месяцев
The main overland artery of the network: from Chang'an through the Gansu Corridor, Dunhuang and Kashgar to Samarkand, Bukhara and Merv, then on toward Iran and the Mediterranean. A caravan covered some 7,000 km in six to eight months — and almost nobody walked the whole way: goods changed hands at oasis bazaars. Silk, paper and spices moved west; glass, silver and horses moved east. The cities this site covers in most depth — Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva — stand along this branch.
Key goods: шёлк, специи, стекло, металлы, фарфор, бумага
Southern Oasis Route
Era: II в. до н.э. — X в. н.э. · Length: ~3 000 км · Travel time: 2–3 месяца
The southern arc around the Taklamakan desert: Dunhuang — Khotan — Yarkand, then over the Pamirs toward Balkh and Termez. Shorter than the northern line (about 3,000 km, two to three months) but harsher: this branch lived on the jade trade and on the Buddhist monasteries through which the teaching travelled from India to China. Along it stand cave temples, stupas and oasis towns where archaeologists still find manuscripts in vanished languages.
Key goods: нефрит, шёлк, хлопок, буддийские тексты
Steppe Route
Era: I в. до н.э. — XIV в. н.э. · Length: ~8 000 км · Travel time: 8–12 месяцев
The northern corridor across the Eurasian steppe — from Karakorum and Otrar to Sarai on the Volga and on toward the Black Sea. A road of nomads, envoys and horse trade: some 8,000 km, eight to twelve months. Its peak came under the Mongol Empire, when the Pax Mongolica made the steppe road the safest on the continent — Marco Polo, papal envoys and caravans of furs, horses and amber all used it.
Key goods: меха, лошади, металлы, рабы, янтарь, воск
Maritime Silk Road
Era: I в. до н.э. — XVI в. н.э. · Length: ~15 000 км · Travel time: 1–2 года
The maritime network from Guangzhou and Quanzhou through the Strait of Malacca to the ports of India, Aden and Alexandria — some 15,000 km and one to two years under way. The monsoons set the timetable: half the year the wind blew one way, half the year the other. Porcelain, spices and pearls went west in the holds — and religions and technologies travelled with them. By the fifteenth century the sea route had decisively outweighed the land one.
Key goods: специи, фарфор, шёлк, хлопок, жемчуг, ладан
Indian Branch
Era: I в. до н.э. — XIII в. н.э. · Length: ~4 000 км · Travel time: 3–4 месяца
The mountain-and-river branch from Central Asia to the subcontinent: Balkh — Bamyan — Kabul — Peshawar — Taxila and on to the ports of western India. About 4,000 km, three to four months. Spices, cotton and ivory moved along it — and texts: this is the road by which Buddhism climbed from India into Central Asia and China. The giant Buddhas of Bamyan stood directly above the track.
Key goods: специи, хлопок, слоновая кость, буддийские тексты, лошади
Persian Royal Road
Era: V в. до н.э. — VII в. н.э. · Length: ~3 000 км · Travel time: 3 месяца (обоз) / 7 дней (курьер)
The oldest branch of the network: the Achaemenid Royal Road from Sardis to Susa existed five centuries before silk ever travelled it. The Persian empire kept relay stations with couriers — a messenger covered the road in seven days, a baggage train in three months. Later the corridor through Baghdad, Isfahan and Tabriz became the main link between Central Asia and the Mediterranean: carpets, silver and gold moved along it in both directions.
Key goods: золото, серебро, ковры, специи, военное снаряжение
Balkh
Founded: ~2500 до н.э. · Peak: VI в. до н.э. — XIII в.
The “Mother of Cities” — one of the oldest cities on Earth, possibly Zoroaster's birthplace.
Bukhara UNESCO World Heritage
Founded: ~I в. до н.э. · Peak: IX–X и XVI–XVII вв.
“Noble Bukhara” — the main spiritual and intellectual centre of Central Asia.
Open the city guide →Kashgar
Founded: ~200 до н.э. · Peak: II в. до н.э. — XV в.
The great crossroads of the Silk Road, where the northern and southern branches met.
Khiva UNESCO World Heritage
Founded: ~VI в. · Peak: XVII–XIX вв.
A living medieval city — the only fully preserved walled oasis town in Central Asia.
Open the city guide →Merv UNESCO World Heritage
Founded: ~500 до н.э. · Peak: VII–XIII вв.
The “Queen of the World” — once among the largest cities on Earth, erased by the Mongols.
Samarkand UNESCO World Heritage
Founded: ~700 до н.э. · Peak: IX–XIV вв.
The greatest city of the Silk Road — the “Pearl of the East” and a crossroads of every culture of its world.
Open the city guide →Khotan
Founded: ~200 до н.э. · Peak: II в. до н.э. — VIII в.
The world's main source of jade — and the city where silk-making first slipped out of China.
Kucha
Founded: ~200 до н.э. · Peak: I–VII вв.
A Buddhist kingdom whose music and art travelled east to shape Tang-dynasty China.
Tashkent
Founded: ~I в. до н.э. · Peak: IX–XII вв.
Ancient Chach — the largest trading hub between Central Asia and the steppe.
Open the city guide →Termez
Founded: ~III в. до н.э. · Peak: I–IV вв. и IX–XIII вв.
The oldest Buddhist centre of Central Asia, at the famous Oxus river crossing.
Open the city guide →
Chang'an UNESCO World Heritage
Founded: 202 до н.э. · Peak: II в. до н.э. — X в.
The eastern terminus of the Silk Road — one of the greatest capitals of the medieval world.
Dunhuang UNESCO World Heritage
Founded: ~111 до н.э. · Peak: II в. до н.э. — XI в.
The “Blazing Sands” — the spiritual gate to Central Asia, with 492 painted cave temples.
Guangzhou
Founded: 214 до н.э. · Peak: II в. до н.э. — XIX в.
China's main sea port — the “Gate to the World” that received Arab and Persian merchants.
Luoyang UNESCO World Heritage
Founded: ~1046 до н.э. · Peak: I–VIII вв.
The alternative eastern capital — the main Buddhist centre of early imperial China.
Quanzhou UNESCO World Heritage
Founded: 711 н.э. · Peak: X–XIV вв.
The “Light of the East” — the world's largest port under the Song and Yuan dynasties.
Turpan
Founded: ~I в. до н.э. · Peak: I–XIV вв.
China's hottest oasis, watered by unique underground karez channels.
Herat
Founded: ~500 до н.э. · Peak: XIV–XV вв.
The “Athens of the East” — a Timurid capital of arts and the crossroads of Khorasan.
Isfahan UNESCO World Heritage
Founded: ~I в. до н.э. · Peak: XVI–XVII вв.
“Isfahan is half the world” — capital of Safavid Persia and one of its most beautiful cities.
Bamyan UNESCO World Heritage
Founded: I в. · Peak: III–IX вв.
A great Buddhist centre whose giant Buddhas watched over the road for fifteen centuries.
Hormuz
Founded: ~III в. · Peak: X–XVI вв.
The key port at the mouth of the Persian Gulf — the trading crown of the sea route.
Kabul
Founded: ~3500 до н.э. · Peak: VII–XIX вв.
The main junction on the road from Central Asia down to India.
Nishapur
Founded: 240 н.э. · Peak: VII–XIII вв.
The fourth-largest city of the medieval world — the main source of turquoise.
Tabriz UNESCO World Heritage
Founded: ~IV в. до н.э. · Peak: XIII–XIV и XVI вв.
The main trading hub on the road from Persia to Europe — Venetian and Genoese merchants came here.
Alexandria
Founded: 331 до н.э. · Peak: I в. до н.э. — IV в.
The greatest port of the ancient world — the western terminus of the maritime route.
Baghdad
Founded: 762 н.э. · Peak: VIII–XIII вв.
Capital of the Abbasid caliphate — the “City of Peace”, the largest centre of learning of its age.
Constantinople UNESCO World Heritage
Founded: 330 н.э. · Peak: IV–XV вв.
Capital of Byzantium — the “Golden Gate” between Asia and Europe.
Aden
Founded: ~I в. до н.э. · Peak: VII–XVI вв.
The key port at the mouth of the Red Sea — the key to the Indian Ocean trade.
Antioch
Founded: 300 до н.э. · Peak: I в. до н.э. — VI в.
The third city of the Roman empire — the “Gate of the East” at the Mediterranean end of the road.
Damascus UNESCO World Heritage
Founded: ~3000 до н.э. · Peak: VII–XIV вв.
One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world — a terminus of the desert caravan roads.
Palmyra UNESCO World Heritage
Founded: до II в. до н.э. · Peak: I–III вв.
The “Pearl of the Desert” — a wealthy oasis city that brokered trade between Rome and the East.
Was the Silk Road a single road?
No. It was a network of caravan corridors and sea lanes that shifted over centuries. Merchants rarely travelled the whole way — goods passed through many hands, and each segment had its own carriers, languages and prices.
When did the Silk Road operate?
The conventional span runs from China's Han dynasty missions of the second century BCE to the sixteenth century, when ocean shipping finally outcompeted the caravans. Individual branches peaked at different times — the steppe route under the Mongols, the sea route under the Song and Ming.
Why did the Silk Road decline?
A combination of causes: the collapse of Mongol unity made land travel dangerous again, the Ming dynasty turned inward, and Portuguese, then Dutch and English ocean routes moved the same goods faster and cheaper by sea.
Which Silk Road cities can you visit in Uzbekistan today?
Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva preserve whole historic ensembles; Tashkent and Termez hold major museums and archaeological sites. Each has a full guide on this site with landmarks, food and practical advice.
What is this map based on?
Corridor geometry and city roles follow the academic literature on Silk Road geography — UNESCO's Silk Roads Programme materials and standard histories (see sources below). The lines are schematic corridors, not GPS tracks of specific caravans.
Route corridors, city roles and dates were checked against: UNESCO Silk Roads Programme materials; Valerie Hansen, The Silk Road: A New History (Oxford, 2012); Peter Frankopan, The Silk Roads (Bloomsbury, 2015); S. Frederick Starr, Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age (Princeton, 2013); UNESCO World Heritage List entries for the cities marked as heritage sites. The map is an editorial visualization by the Kvazar team, not an academic publication; corrections are welcome at hello@kvazar.uz.