Marco Polo

Marco Polo (c. 1254-1324)

Marco Polo, Italian traveler and writer, with whose(which) works knew the Europeans the first trustworthy description of the way of life in the Far East. It(He,She) was born in Venice. His(its) father and his(its) uncle were Venetian merchants and associates. In one of the trips that they did since(as) merchants (1260) they went, for land, from Bukhoro, in Uzbekistan, to China. There they remained for some years in Kaifeng, the oriental capital of the Mongolian emperor Kublai Jan, and returned to Venice in 1269. Two years later, taking with them Marco Polo, they made his(its) second trip to China. The route that they followed(continued) took them in a trip for land from Acre (nowadays in Israel) to Hormuz, in the entry of the gulf Pérsico. From there, towards the north, across Iran up to the river Oxus (at present named Amu-Darya), in Central Asia. Later they ascended for the Oxus, crossed Pamir and came to Lob Nor's region, in Sinkiang's province (at present the Xinjiang Uygur's autonomous region), in China, and finally they crossed the desert of Gobi and came to Kublai Jan's court, for that one at the time in Shangdu's city (Shang - Your), China, in 1275. Of this form, they turned into the first Europeans who visited the majority of the territories that they crossed during his(its) trip, especially Pamir and the desert of Gobi. Marco Polo began to form a part of the Kublai Jan's diplomatic body, for the one who led to end missions throughout of the empire, and besides it(he,she) was for three years governing of the Yangzhou's Chinese city (Yangchow). For his(its) part(report), his(its) father and his(its) uncle they were to the service of the emperor as military counselors. They remained in China until the year 1292, when they divided as escorts of a Chinese princess in a trip for sea up to Iran. To this country they came across Sumatra, the south of the India, the Indian ocean, and the gulf Pérsico. They continued later for land beyond Tabriz, in the northwest of Iran, for the east coast of the Black sea, and of Constantinople. They came finally to his(its) city, Venice, in 1295. In 1298 Marco Polo was a captain of a Venetian galley in the battle that was facing to the fleets of Venice and Genoa, and it(he) was caught by the Genoeses. During his(its) imprisonment in Genoa it(he,she) dictated to a companion the statement of his(its,her) trips. In 1299 it was put at liberty and returned to Venice.