Most probably via the Mediterranean, this being 1495 that meant Venice, with some chances of the Southern French doing the transport itself across some part of

Most probably via the Mediterranean, this being 1495 that meant Venice, with some chances of the Southern French doing the transport itself across some part of Mediterranean as the Venetians were already beginning to not be that much interested in sailing. The Venetians themselves were purchasing the spices either from Alexandria or from Beirut. There's a 1963 presentation by Ruggiero Romano, Alberto Tenenti and Ugo Tucci called Venise et la Route du Cap: 1499-1517, which has this table [1] of imports of spices in the Mediterranean Sea and Southern Europe going from the late 1490s to the early 1500s. One can see that the Portuguese only started bringing spices in Europe in 1501, and they started rivalling the Venetians in terms of quantities in 1503. [1] https://imgur.com/a/5bVsi6m https://imgur.com/a/5bVsi6m