Silk Road Cultural Heritage District Celebrates Designation
Published on March 05, 2025
This cultural heritage district boosts recognition for Eastern Asian and North and Central African communities of San Antonio.
SAN ANTONIO (March 5, 2025) – Today, the City of San Antonio Office of Historic Preservation and City Council District 8 hosted a celebration of the Silk Road Cultural Heritage District (SCRHD) with food, music, the unveiling of new street banners, and the first History Here marker in District 8.
The SRCHD was initiated through a Council Consideration Request submitted by District 8 Councilmember Manny Pelaez in 2022. It was endorsed by the City’s Historic and Design Review Commission in December of 2024, making it the fourth cultural heritage district in San Antonio.
"The diversity along Wurzbach Road is instantly recognizable, significant, and deserves to be celebrated,” said Councilmember Pelaez. “Those who live and work along this cultural heritage district represent countries from across the world and have shaped our city for the better. This designation is an effort to recognize and honor the contributions made by these communities."
The SRCHD was created to recognize the many cultures and communities whose roots stem from North and Central Africa to Eastern Asia that shop, live, and interact within a geographic cluster along Wurzbach Road in northwest San Antonio. The district name is a reference to the historic Silk Road which consisted of a series of trade routes extending over thousands of miles, interconnecting the Mediterranean Basin with East Asia and allowing for shared commerce, cultures, and belief systems. These routes were named in the English language after silk, one of the most iconic products that made it halfway across the world for centuries.
"Cultural Heritage recognition is one of the ways that we build awareness of San Antonio’s living heritage,” said Shanon Miller, Director of the City of San Antonio Office of Historic Preservation. “Traditional historic districts are often characterized by a collection of buildings. Cultural Heritage Districts take the next step by recognizing that many of the things contributing to San Antonio’s cultural identity are not always tangible. They can be things like traditions, food, or the arts. The Cultural Heritage District for San Antonio’s Silk Road helps us understand how this intangible heritage is tied to place and what we can build upon that heritage.”
The celebration took place at Baklovah Bakery located within the International Plaza shopping center on Wurzbach Road. Serving as a gateway into the district, the shopping center contains several culinary destinations including Pasha Mediterranean Grill and the Ali Baba International Food Market. As a commercial and culinary hub, it is the recipient of the district’s first History Here marker, a plaque provided by the Office of Historic Preservation to commemorate the cultural contributions of the site.
Among the speakers was Nadia Mavrakis, Co-Executive Director of Culturingua, a non-profit Middle Eastern, North African and South Asian organization whose mission is to empower low-to-moderate income families and individuals through economic and cultural propriety. Organizations like Culturingua were instrumental in the development of the district recognition which aims to promote the diverse communities that continue to grow in the area.
More information on cultural heritage programs by the Office of Historic Preservation can be found on ScoutSA.com/CulturalHeritage.
Silk Road footage and images are available here.