Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire of the sixteenth century stretched from the Eastern Mediterranean, across North Africa and as far west as Spain, and throughout Syria and Greece.

Now called Istanbul and the capital of Turkey, Constantinople was a major trade point for goods travelling from east to west mainly via the Silk Route: a network of trade roads throughout Asia which also connected this diverse region to the Mediterranean world.

Goods including silk, porcelain, gems, and spices like pepper flowed into Europe via Constantinople, and the city became a linchpin of commerce and trade in goods from all over the known world: the many regions along the Silk Route, and all provinces of the vast Ottoman Empire.