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Xi'an Stele (Jingjiao / 'Nestorian' Stele)The Luzon StraitThe Red Sea cable corridorThe Strait of MalaccaAhmedabadAksumAlexandriaAntioch on the OrontesBerlinBirminghamBostonBrasíliaCanberraCanton (historical) — modern GuangzhouCarthageChicagoCórdobaCuritibaGoaHavanaIstanbulJakartaJerusalem (Old City)KashgarLagosLisbonLiverpoolLondiniumLondonMalacca (Melaka)ManausManchesterManilaMarka (Merca), SomaliaMarseilleMecca (Makkah)MedellínMoscowNew OrleansNew York CityNusantaraParisPotosíRio de JaneiroRomeSevilleShanghaiSingaporeSongdoTenochtitlanTokyoVladivostokAmboseli–Tsavo–Kilimanjaro dispersal corridorKavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA)Gulf StreamHumboldt (Peru–Chile) CurrentKuroshioBerlin MarathonBoston MarathonChicago MarathonLondon MarathonNew York City MarathonTokyo MarathonAlphaFold Protein Structure DatabaseLagos Blue LineMetrocable Line K, MedellínBasque (Euskara)MalagasyAustralian Institute of Marine ScienceArctic CouncilGreat Barrier Reef Marine Park AuthorityICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites)INPE (Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais)International Telecommunication UnionIUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)Jet Propulsion LaboratoryUNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)World Health OrganizationAmboseli National ParkChobe National ParkEtosha National ParkHwange National ParkKruger National ParkMaasai Mara National ReserveNgorongoro Conservation AreaOkavango DeltaSerengeti National ParkEl Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)AcapulcoCherbourg — transatlantic roadsteadNew York — Chelsea Piers (Piers 54 and 59)Queenstown (Cobh) — Roche's Point anchorageSouthampton — White Star Dock (Berth 44)ITERJoint European Torus (JET)National Ignition FacilityAnatoliaAntarcticaArctic OceanAssamCubaDarjeelingThe Fulda GapWestern Corridor and Grumeti ReservesLabrador SeaThe Moluccas (Maluku Islands)Ngorongoro Conservation Area — Western PlainsNorthern Virginia data-centre corridorOgliastra and the Nuoro highlands, SardiniaOkinawaThe Pontic–Caspian steppeSouthern Serengeti Short-Grass PlainsSouth GeorgiaTaiwanWeddell SeaYunnanZambezi RiverThe Mediterranean Sea (Mare Nostrum)Abu Simbel temples (Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae)Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter ArrayAngkorArabian Oryx Sanctuary, Oman (delisted 2007)Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO)Baikonur CosmodromeBayan Obo mining districtBhadla Solar ParkThe Bornholmer Strasse crossingBorobudurBottaccione Gorge, GubbioThe Broad Street pump, SohoBurgess Shale, Yoho National ParkBurj KhalifaLaunch Complex 41, Cape CanaveralCape Canaveral Space Force StationCape of Good HopeChallenger DeepChartres CathedralCheckpoint CharlieChengjiang fossil site, YunnanChichen ItzaChicxulub impact crater, YucatánChrist the Redeemer, Rio de JaneiroColosseum (Flavian Amphitheatre), RomeCongo Square, New OrleansCosta Rica Thermal DomeCromford MillDenmark Strait SillDrake PassageDresden Elbe Valley (delisted 2009)Dresser Formation, North Pole Dome, PilbaraDSS-43, Canberra Deep Space Communication ComplexDurham CathedralEdiacara Hills, Flinders RangesEko AtlanticEnewetak AtollFairview Lawn Cemetery, HalifaxFortune Head GSSP, NewfoundlandFrancevillian Basin, GabonGalápagos IslandsGalapagos RiftGare de l'Est, ParisGemini North telescope, MaunakeaGoldstone Deep Space Communications ComplexLaboratori Nazionali del Gran SassoGreat Pyramid of Giza (Pyramid of Khufu)Great Wall of ChinaGrytviken Whaling StationGuiana Space Centre, KourouHadrian's WallHagia Sophia, Constantinople / IstanbulHarland and Wolff shipyard, Queen's Island, BelfastHattusa (Boğazkale)The Heart's Content cable stationHome Insurance Building, ChicagoThe Iron Bridge, CoalbrookdaleIsua supracrustal belt, southwest GreenlandKamioka Observatory, Mozumi mineJohn F. Kennedy Space CenterKilwa KisiwaniKennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39AKennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39BLanding Zone 1, Cape CanaveralLeptis MagnaLighthouse of Alexandria (the Pharos)LIGO Hanford ObservatoryLIGO Livingston ObservatoryLiverpool – Maritime Mercantile City (delisted 2021)Bahia de Loreto National ParkMachu PicchuMadrid Deep Space Communications ComplexMakokoMarathon and the Tumulus of the AtheniansMariana TrenchMausoleum at HalicarnassusMcMurdo StationMeeting of the Waters (Encontro das Aguas)Meishan GSSP, Changxing, ZhejiangMoss Landing battery storage complexNevado MismiNotre-Dame de ParisNuvvuagittuq greenstone belt, NunavikOstia AnticaSite of PalmyraThe Pantheon, RomePetraPhilae temple complex (relocated to Agilkia Island)Pikialasorsuaq (the North Water Polynya)Point ConceptionPont du GardPorthcurno cable stationRaja AmpatBasilica of Saint-DenisSalar de AtacamaSiberian Traps large igneous provinceSimplon TunnelSirkeci Terminal, IstanbulStatue of Zeus at OlympiaStegra green steel plant, BodenStonehengeTaj MahalTempelhof AirportTemple of Artemis at Ephesus (the Artemision)TimbuktuTitanic wreck siteTreasury of Atreus, MycenaeThe Valentia Island cable stationVenice and its LagoonParanal Observatory and the GRAVITY interferometerVostok StationWaldschlösschen Bridge, DresdenWhite City StadiumWindsor CastleYaroslavsky Station, MoscowBukhara6 · BukharaChang'an1 · Chang'anConstantinople4 · ConstantinopleDunhuang2 · DunhuangMervSamarkandXi'anMogao CavesTurfan oasis

Earth · History · Explore · All time · 9 of 242 located marks in focus · pattern: The road that carried more than silk · editorial corpus · no live source connected

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The road that carried more than silk

Cities strung between two empires — what moved along them besides trade?

  1. 1 Chang'an · 126 BCE
  2. 2 Dunhuang · 308
  3. 3 Mogao Caves · 366
  4. 4 Constantinople · 550
  5. 5 Turfan oasis · 640
  6. 6 Bukhara · 705
  7. 6 Samarkand · 705
  8. 7 Merv · 1221
  9. 8 Xi'an · 2014

Places in the order the corpus dates them. The line marks that order — it is not a route, and no path between these places is recorded.

Read the story behind this pattern ↗
TimeAll timeLast 100 yearsBefore 1926Full timeline →

1145 objects · 280 located (1 withheld pending verification) · 865 unlocated · Basemap: Natural Earth (public domain) · marks drawn only from sourced coordinates