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Marco Polo (/ ˈ m ɑːr k oʊ ˈ p oʊ l oʊ / ⓘ; Venetian: [ˈmaɾko ˈpolo]; Italian: [ˈmarko ˈpɔːlo] ⓘ; c. 1254 – 8 January 1324) [1] was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295.
- Marco Polo’s Famous Travelogue Was Penned in Prison.
- Marco Polo Was Not The First European to Travel to Asia.
- Marco Polo Barely Knew His Father and Uncle When They Began Their Expedition.
- Marco Polo Mistook Some of The Animals He Saw For Mythical Creatures.
- The Polos Barely Made It Out of Asia alive.
- The Polos Lost Much of Their Fortune While Returning Home.
- Marco Polo’s Route Became Largely Impassable After His Return to Venice.
Marco Polo is remembered thanks to a colorful and popular narrative about his eastward voyage, known simply as The Travels of Marco Polo. Ironically, this record of Polo’s freewheeling years as an explorer was written while he languished behind bars. In 1298, three years after he returned from his journey, Polo was captured after leading a Venetian...
Marco Polo may be the most storied Far East traveler, but he certainly was not the first. The Franciscan monk Giovanni da Pian del Carpini reached China in the 1240s—over 20 years before Polo left Europe—and gained an audience with the Great Kahn of the Mongol empire. Other Catholic emissaries would later follow, including William of Rubruck, who t...
A few months before Marco Polo was born in 1254, his father Niccolo and uncle Maffeo left Italy on a trading excursion to Asia. The brothers returned to Venice in 1269, and it was only then that 15-year-old Marco finally met Niccolo, the father he never knew he had. Although he was essentially a stranger to the elder Polos, Marco joined them when t...
After his return from Asia, Marco Polo thoroughly documented his encounters with unfamiliar animals such as elephants, monkeys and crocodiles. He described the latter, for instance, as giant, sharp-clawed “serpents” that could “swallow a man … at one time.” But the traveler often confused these strange faunae with creatures from myth and legend. On...
After enduring decades of travel and surviving several brushes with death, the Polos encountered their biggest hurdles when they tried to return to Italy. Worried that their departure would make him appear weak, the elderly Kublai Kahn initially refused to release his favorite envoys from service. The Polos were only allowed to leave the Great Kahn...
Once they moved out of Mongol territory, Marco, Niccolo and Maffeo could no longer rely on Kublai Kahn’s protection. As the travelers passed through the kingdom of Trebizond, in modern-day Turkey, the local government robbed them of some 4,000 Byzantine gold coins. Despite this significant loss, the Polos retained enough of their cargo to arrive ho...
Kublai Kahn died during the Polos’ return to Venice, sending the Mongol empire into decline and crushing any chance that Marco would ever return to the Far East. Tribal groups soon reclaimed land along the once-prosperous trading route known as the Silk Road, effectively cutting off a vital artery connecting East and West. With the land route to Ch...
Jul 5, 2013 · No, to my knowledge it is neither slang as such nor offensive in any way. One possibility is that Marco Polo is being used as a substitute for Motherfu..er. The rhythm is similar and Marco is close enough to Mother to give it a nice alliterative ring.
Apr 18, 2022 · Marco Polo (the game, not the guy), is played in the water and the person who is “it” has to tag people. They call out “Marco,” and everyone else says “Polo” so the person who’s “it” can pinpoint their locations.
Jan 8, 2024 · Filled with wonders, Marco Polo's tales are the first European account of the Silk Road. But, 700 years after the famed Venetian merchant and explorer's death, can they be trusted?
While Marco Polo is best known in modern popular culture as the namesake for a children’s swimming pool game, the Venetian explorer was a crucial figure in world history in the years leading up to the Renaissance. His popular book, commonly called The Travels of Marco Polo — though it was originally titled Livre des Merveilles du Monde ...
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Jul 30, 2012 · Marco Polo (1254-1324) was a Venetian merchant believed to have journeyed across Asia at the height of the Mongol Empire.
