For the whole text see: Silk Road Cities. Documented through photographs, prints and postcards.
Mashhad, Iran
Mashhat, the second city of current-day Iran, is situated near a natural corridor of two mountain belts and has thus historically been a strategic location that merchants would frequent and that invaders tried to dominate. However, the role of Mashhad as a pilgrim destination is probably even more prominent, and this is due to the fact that the shrine of Imam ‘Ali al-Riza, widely considered to be the 8th Shia imam, is situated there.