Beautiful sights on the Silk Road

The world famous Silk Road possesses wonderful landscapes that if you are a travel enthusiast, you should definitely not miss. Below are the beautiful landscapes along the Silk Road.

Many of the Silk Road routes passed through war-torn lands centuries ago. Some of these destinations are now off the tourist map for safety reasons, but given their historical importance, it would be a mistake to leave them off this list.

Beautiful sights on the Silk Road

• Old City of Damascus, Syria
• İshak Pasha Palace, Türkiye
• Selim Caravanserai, Armenia
• Uplistsikhe, Georgia
• Tabriz, Iran

Old City of Damascus, Syria

Damascus is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, a place whose ancient ruins have attracted invaders – among them the Greeks, the Abbasids, the Seljuk Turks – and curious visitors for centuries. The city's handicrafts are renowned for their intricately decorated swords and lace, while Damask silk originated in China, taking its name from the trading city of Damascus. One of the most fascinating sights here is the Umayyad Mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Damascus, a gem of the early Islamic world dating back to the Umayyad establishment of their capital in Damascus in 661. Following the start of the Syrian civil war, the ancient city of Damascus was added to Unesco's list of World Heritage in Danger in 2013.

İshak Pasha Palace, Türkiye

Perched on a lonely rock, near the town of Doğubayazıt in eastern Türkiye, is the incredibly photogenic İshak Pasha Palace, with its impressive stone-domed mosque and minaret in Ottoman, Persian and Seljuk styles. Commissioned by the İshak Pasha family, who served as the region's vizier, the structure was completed after the Silk Road era in 1784 despite its strategically located high elevation, overlooking the entire valley, where old Silk Road routes led to Georgia, Iran and the caravan route from Tabriz to the Black Sea ports. The road to the palace also passes the ancient Bayazit Castle, a fortress in the shadow of Mount Ararat where Silk Road merchants would stop and store their goods.

Selim Caravanserai, Armenia

Sometimes called the Orbelian Inn, after the noble family that built it, this ancient merchant inn was completed in 1332 and sits next to the remote Selim Pass in southern Armenia. The Selim Caravanserai is long, low and dimly lit, with only one entrance. As you step through a doorway decorated with a bull and a lion, you can imagine ancient merchants huddled in one arched section, their livestock in another with basalt troughs. The inn sits on an ancient international trade route that linked the border with Iran. You can also drive there.

Uplistsikhe, Georgia

To see this once-thriving trading town, one of the oldest known settlements in the Caucasus, head east from the Georgian city of Gori to the honeycomb-colored Uplistsikhe, where branches of the Silk Road once ran nearby. Built high on the rocky banks of the Mtkvari River, Uplistsikhe flourished as a religious center from the sixth century BC. What remains today are the ruins of the city’s downtown, which once housed 20,000 people, with a market, temples, palaces, wineries, bakeries, and sewers. With the foundations still standing, it’s easy to imagine what daily life was like here. The remains of ancient Uplistsikhe were razed to the ground by the Mongols in the 13th century.

Tabriz, Iran

A network of interconnected markets stretching over at least 100 hectares, the Unesco-listed Tabriz Historic Market Complex is home to beautiful domed halls. Below them are stalls selling leather, silver, copper, spices and, of course, carpets. With origins dating back to the 10th century, it was one of the most important trading centres on the Silk Road thanks to its strategic location and duty-free status, although it was also known for its social and educational gatherings. Today, it remains a living example of Silk Road culture , where craftsmen, artists, tobacconists, tailors, calligraphers and bookbinders from different cultures mingle and trade in the alleyways.