"Tabriz is a large city in a province called Iraq, which
has many cities and towns. Since Tabriz is the most splendid city in the
province, I will tell you about it.
The people of Tabriz live by trade and industry;
for cloth of gold and silk is woven here in great quantity and of great
value. The city is so favourably situated that it is a market for merchandise
from India and Baghdad, from Mosul and Hormuz, and from many other places;
and many Latin merchants come here to buy the merchandise imported from
foreign lands. It is also a market for precious stones, which are fouind
here in great abundance. It is a city where good profits are made by travelling
merchants . . . The city is entirely surrounded by attractive orchards,
full of excellent fruit."
The Travels of Marco Polo. Ronald Latham, trans.