Merv is sometimes listed as Merw and is located in the territory of Mary in Turkmenistan. Two of the major Silk Road routes merged just outside this prosperous city and it was perhaps the third largest city of all back in the 6th century. Goods, ideas, art and cultures made their way from China to Persia. Besides trade it was also known as a city of learning and culture. Today Turkmenistan is still known for its cotton and vegatables that have been traded for centuries but now natural gas and oil are its biggest exports.
Merv is a UNESCO World Heritage Site due in part to its significance as one of most complex urban archaeological remains in the world. Because this oasis city was at a crossroads of these routes, it also was a center for production of ceramics, markets and an icehouse where stored snow from the winter months created a refridgerator of sorts. There were inns for the travelers and the animals found shelter in the courtyards. I have not been able to ascertain whether Marco Polo stood in the same place that I did, but it’s fun to imagine the possiblity.
With the different routes transversing parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia the cities visited were numerous. Other than the long time it took I think perhaps Marco visited more cities than me. I’ve been to Constantinople(Istanbul), Baku, Tbilisi, Yerevan, Samarkand, Tashkent, Almaty, Bishkek, Katmandu, Paro, Seoul, Osaka, Colombo, Venice, Rome, Hanoi, Guangzhou, Mumbai and Muscat to name some of those. And that’s in this life time. According to my astrologer I’ve been to some of those before;-)
