We know that the ancient Silk Road represented a network of terrestrial and maritime routes that linked the East and the West, practically covering the entire world as people knew it in antiquity and in the Middle Ages. Its existence was vitally entwined with commerce.
But it might be interesting to remark that, although we might consider the space between the Carpathian Mountains, the Danube and the Pontus Euxinus somewhat detached from the “wide world”, its destiny somewhat divergent, we can talk about The Romanian Silk Road: old commercial routes that linked a region to another and the space that would later be called Romania by the rest of the World.
In this sense, the Brasov Road (Drumul Brasovului) is regarded as the oldest commercial route in the country. This “Medieval Highway”, as it was nicknamed, departed from Brasov and reached Braila and was mentioned in a document dating back to 1358, when king Louie I of Anjou granted commercial privileges to the citizens of Brasov. The road consacrated the commercial and cultural links with Muntenia, encompassing the space between the Prahova and Buzau Rivers and continued to the mouth of Siret.
The documents of the age describe the Brasov Road as a dynamic and cosmopolitan space crossed by caravans, relays and carts. 6 meters wide in open space, the road wound narrow and spectacular in the mountains, where it was edged in stone and only allowed passage to a workhorse.
As for Muntenia, there was a Medieval Silk Road here also. In the old Tara Lovistei, from Caineni all the way to Arges, there was a commercial route that was vital in Europe.
Today, the old commercial roads of the Middle Ages have been transformed into the less… campy roads. The Brasov Road is integrated in the network of Romanian highways, while the route bisecting Tara Lovistei through 4 towns remains the most efficient link between Bucharest and Sibiu to this date.
You can cross these beautiful routes imagining the long lost times with modern means of transportation: for instance, you can rent a car online and drive wherever you like.