Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant and explorer whose travels along the Silk Road to China and years serving in the court of Kublai Khan introduced medieval Europe to the wonders of Asia.
An account of his travels, dictated to a fellow prisoner during a war between rival Italian city-states, ended up introducing medieval Europe to a version of Asia it had never imagined.
Setting Out for the East
Polo set out from Venice in 1271 at just 17 years old, traveling overland with his father and uncle along the Silk Road toward the court of Kublai Khan, ruler of the vast Mongol Empire — a grueling journey that took several years to complete.
Nearly Two Decades in Asia
Polo reportedly spent close to 20 years traveling and working across Asia, serving in various administrative and diplomatic capacities under Kublai Khan and traveling extensively throughout the enormous Mongol Empire before finally returning to Venice in 1295.
A Book Written in Prison
Upon returning home, Polo was captured during a war between Venice and rival city-state Genoa and imprisoned, where he reportedly dictated detailed accounts of his travels to a fellow inmate, a romance writer named Rustichello da Pisa.
The Travels of Marco Polo
This account was compiled into The Travels of Marco Polo, which became one of the most influential travel narratives in history, offering medieval Europeans their first detailed descriptions of Chinese cities, customs, and the wealth of the Mongol court.
Inspiring Future Explorers
Polo's accounts, though doubted by some contemporaries for their extraordinary descriptions of wealth and scale, went on to inspire generations of later European explorers, including reportedly influencing Christopher Columbus's own ambitions to reach Asia by sea.
