MARCO
POLO
Marco Polo was born in 1254 in Venice.
He was the son of Niccolò Polo, a wealthy and well-known merchant who, together with his brother Maffeo Polo, frequently travelled for trade in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East.
In 1271, the Polo brothers set out on a remarkable journey to Asia, taking young Marco with them. This expedition lasted for 24 years and became one of the most famous travel narratives in history.
Marco Polo crossed Asia through Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, and Central Asia—mainly by horse and ship—covering a distance of about 16,000 kilometers. After approximately 30 months, he reached the realm of the Great Khan of the Mongols, Kublai Khan.
During the following 17 years, Marco Polo gained the Khan’s trust and was appointed as his advisor, undertaking various missions across China and exploring regions previously unknown to Europeans.
In 1292, he departed for Europe, stopping in Persia for one last assignment from the Khan. In 1295, after 24 years away, he returned to Venice. During the war between Venice and Genoa, he was captured and imprisoned, where he dictated his travels to his fellow prisoner, the writer Rustichello da Pisa. This became the famous account of his journeys.
Observant and intelligent, Marco Polo described the customs and cultures of peoples previously unknown in the West. For centuries afterward, his accounts were among the few European sources of information about China and the Far East.
He died at the age of 70 in 1324. His book Il Milione remains one of the most influential travel narratives in history.