spice route
Ancient trade path
The spice route refers to ancient trade networks connecting Asia to Europe and Africa, along which spices like pepper, cinnamon, and cloves traveled.
The term usually means the maritime routes through the Indian Ocean, though overland paths through Central Asia also carried spices.
These routes shaped global commerce for millennia: The spice route brought fortunes to medieval Venice.
- cardamomAromatic seed pod spice
- clovesDried flower-bud spice
- cinnamonAromatic bark spice
- Indian subcontinentPeninsula below the Himalayas
- nutmegAromatic seed spice
sea voyage · turmeric · Arabian Peninsula · pepper · frankincense · myrrh · monsoon winds · architectural styles · culinary fusion · ginger · navigation techniques · saffron · East Indies · port city · trading post · camels · merchants · exotic goods
- Middle EastIraq, Baghdad, Cairo, Iran, Jordan
- Southeast AsiaVietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia
- exotic adventuresjungle adventure, ocean voyage, treasure hunt, lost city, ancient ruins
- historic travelGrand Tour, carriage, pilgrimages, wagon, Silk Road
- routesroad, path, highway, freeway, trail
- trade routessilk road, Silk Road, cargo routes, merchant routes, commercial routes
spice routetrade embargo
Ban on commercial exchange
autarky · economic isolation · blockade · closed border · isolation