Mecca is a modern city of over a million people, and a city that has long been one of the world’s central crossroads. It has been a center for trade and encounters between people from the entire Muslim world.
From Gambia in the west to China and Indonesia in the east, roads leading to Mecca have played a big role in connecting the world. Many non-Muslims have also travelled and traded along them, though they have not been permitted to come all the way in to Mecca.
Goods, artisanal expertise, contacts and ideas have moved between continents.