Silk Road Trade & Travel Encyclopedia
丝绸之路网站（丝路网站）
丝绸之路百科全书—游客、学生和教师的参考资源
İPEK YOLU ve YOLLARI ANSİKLOPEDİSİ
Silk Road Trade & Travel Encyclopedia
丝绸之路网站（丝路网站）
丝绸之路百科全书—游客、学生和教师的参考资源
İPEK YOLU
ve YOLLARI
ANSİKLOPEDİSİ
Interesting Facts & Trivia
31 - QUESTION: What type of routes increased as Silk Routes became less travelled?
Answer: Maritime (Sea routes).
Due to the explorers of the "Age of Discovery," and the development of new types of shipping vessels, transcontinental Eurasian trade along the overland Silk Routes began to decline after the 15th century. Although maritime routes to China were well known even in antiquity, the increased use of maritime routes led to the rise of maritime trade. Like the Silk Road, trade upon these routes was usually conducted not by one person making a lengthy journey, but of a great many “middlemen” who each traveled a portion of the route, bartering or trading as they traveled. In the 15th century, the Portuguese under Prince Henry the Navigator “discovered” the sea route, which became known in later centuries as “The Porcelain Route.”