The Silk Road is a historically important international trade route between China and the Mediterranean. Because silk made up a large proportion of trade along this road, in 1877, it was named ‘the Silk Road' by Ferdinand von Richthofen, a German geographer.

What is Silk?

Silk is made from the cocoons of silkworms. Have you ever seen a butterfly cocoon? It is just like that. You have to take zillions of these cocoons and unwind them carefully, and that makes long threads like spider webs, and you spin these together to make them thicker, and then weave them to make silk. Watch the video below to see how it is made: