The Spice Route

Imagine the world with no trains or planes. Centuries ago, all trade was conducted on ships and in great caravans crossing vast distant areas, sometimes between continents.

Such was the Spice Route, which from the seventh century by Arab intermediation; Europe discovered exotic products used to preserve food. In fact, they say it was because of the spices that India and Europe met, which led to a fruitful trade of all kinds. The spices not only and transform the flavors in the kitchen, also used for food preservation, to develop flavors spice and perfumes or for use in traditional medicine. Not surprisingly the spices were called "the gold of India".

Everything began in the East Indies, in Ceylon, Sumatra or Java, where  cloves, pepper and nutmeg were transported to the Bay of Bengal.

The route passed through India or bordered to the west, nurturing of new ingredients, to the shores of Kerala, where Arab merchants initiated the westward route.

When the merchants reached Damascus or Constantinople, through the Persian Gulf, the spices were transported by boat to Roman ports first and then to Venice and Genoa.
The Spice Route marked the development of the entire region during the middle Ages. It was crucial to the prosperity of cities.  No wonder then that the spice trade was the engine of great events of history.

The journey of Vasco da Gama in 1498, bordering Africa to reach Calcutta and return with a precious cargo of spices and substantial trade agreements initiated colonization.
It is well known, that when Christopher Columbus tried to reach the Indies by the West, he came across American Continent. And this is the reason why we all started  this project.