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Message about marco polo geography. The Polo family and the East. Travel to China. Evaluation of the book by modern researchers

Marco Polo is a Venetian merchant, a famous traveler, a writer who wrote the famous "Book of the Diversity of the World", in which he told the story of his journey through Asian countries. Not all researchers agree with the reliability of the facts presented in the book, but to this day it remains one of the important sources of knowledge on the history, ethnography and geography of the Asian states of the Middle Ages.

The book was used by navigators, cartographers, researchers, writers, travelers and discoverers. She traveled with Christopher Columbus on his famous voyage to America. Marco Polo is the first European who went on a risky journey through unknown countries.

Childhood and family

Marco's birth documents have not been preserved, so information about this period of his biography is inaccurate. It is believed that he was a nobleman, belonged to the Venetian nobility, had a coat of arms. Born in 1254, on September 15, in the family of the Venetian merchant Niccolo Polo, who traded in jewelry and spices. He did not know his mother, as she died in childbirth. The boy was raised by his father and aunt.


Supposed coats of arms of the Marco Polo family

The homeland of the famous traveler could also be Poland and Croatia, which dispute this right, citing certain facts confirming both versions as evidence. The Poles claim that the surname Polo is of Polish origin, Croatian researchers are sure that the first evidence of the life of the famous traveler is in their land.


Whether Marco Polo was educated is not known for certain. The question of his literacy is also controversial, since the famous book was written under dictation by a cellmate, the Pisan Rusticiano, with whom he was held prisoner in a Genoese prison. At the same time, in one of the chapters of the book it is written that during his travels he made notes in his notebook, I tried to be attentive to what was happening and write down everything new and unusual that I had to deal with. In the future, traveling around the world, he learned several languages.

Travel and discovery

The father of the future navigator, by virtue of his profession, traveled a lot. On trips around the world, he discovered new trade routes. It was the father who instilled in his son a love of travel, talking about his wanderings and adventures. In 1271, his first journey took place, on which he went with his father. Jerusalem was his final destination.

In the same year, a new pope was chosen, who appointed the Polo family (father, brother Morfeo and son Marco) as official envoys to China, where at that time the country was ruled by the Mongol Khan. First stop on the coast mediterranean sea there was the port of Layas - a place where goods were brought from Asia, where they were bought by merchants from Venice and Genoa. Further, their path passed through Asia Minor, Armenia, Mesopotamia, where they visited Mosul and Baghdad.


Then travelers go to Persian Tabriz, where in those days there was a rich pearl market. In Persia, part of their escort was killed by robbers who attacked the caravan. The Polo family miraculously survived. Tormented by thirst in sultry desert, on the verge of life and death, they reached the Afghan city of Balkh and found salvation in it.

The eastern lands in which they ended up, continuing their journey, abounded in fruits and game. In Badakhshan, the next region, numerous slaves mined gems. According to one version, in these places, because of Marco's illness, they stopped for a year. Then, overcoming the prisons of the Pamirs, they went to Kashmir. Polo was surprised by the local sorcerers who influence the weather, as well as by the beauty of the local women.


After that, the Italians were the first of the Europeans to be in the Southern Tien Shan. Then the caravan headed northeast through the oases of the Takla-Makan desert. The first Chinese city on their way was Shangzhou, followed by Guangzhou and Lanzhou. Polo was greatly impressed by the local rites and customs, flora and fauna of this country. It was a great time of his amazing travels and discoveries.

The Polo family lived with Khan Kublai Khan for 15 years. Young Marco liked the khan for his independence, fearlessness and good memory. He became close to the Chinese ruler, participated in public life, making important decisions, helped recruit an army, suggested using military catapults, and much more.


Carrying out the most difficult diplomatic assignments, Marco visited many Chinese cities, learned the language and never ceased to be amazed at the achievements and discoveries of this people. He described all this in his book. Shortly before returning to his homeland, he was appointed ruler of the Chinese provinces of Jiangnan.

Khubilai did not want to let go of his assistant and favorite, but in 1291 he sent him and all the Polos to accompany a Mongol princess who had married a ruler from Persia. The path passed through Ceylon and Sumatra. In 1294, while still on their journey, they received news that Kublai Khan had died.


The Polos decide to return home. way through Indian Ocean was very dangerous, only a few managed to overcome it. Marco Polo returned to his homeland after 24 years of wandering in the winter of 1295.

On native land

Two years after the return, the war of Genoa and Venice begins, in which Polo also participates. He is captured and spent several months in prison. Here, according to his stories about the journey, the famous book was written.


There are 140 versions of it written in 12 languages. Despite some speculation, Europeans learned from it about paper money, coal, sago palm, places where spices are grown and much more.

Personal life

Marco's father remarried and had three more brothers. After captivity, Mark's personal life is also going well: he married a noble and wealthy Venetian Donata, bought a house, gave birth to three daughters and received the nickname Mr. Million. The townspeople consider him an eccentric liar, not trusting stories about distant wanderings. Mark lives a prosperous life, but yearns for travel, especially China.


The only joy they give him Venetian carnivals, as they resemble magnificent Chinese palaces and luxurious khan outfits. After returning from Asia, Mark Polo lived another 25 years. At home, he is engaged in trade. The book, written in prison, made him famous during his lifetime.

Polo died in 1324 at the age of 70 in Venice. He was buried in the church of San Lorenzo, destroyed in the 19th century. His luxury house burned down in a fire at the end of the 14th century. About Mark Polo, his life and travels, many exciting films and series have been shot, causing genuine interest among our contemporaries.

  • The struggle for the right to be called the birthplace of Marco Polo between Italy, Poland and Croatia.
  • He wrote a book about his travels, which made him famous.
  • In the last years of his life, stinginess is revealed in him, which leads him to legal proceedings with his own family.
  • Marco Polo gave free rein to one of his slaves and bequeathed part of his inheritance. In this regard, many assumptions have arisen about the reasons for such generosity.
  • In 1888, the Marco Polo Butterfly was named after the great traveler.

So who is Marco Polo? This is the most famous medieval Italian traveler (if you follow the path of Marco Polo on the map, it turns out that he traveled half the world) and a writer. The book "On the Diversity of the World" became a bestseller and sold out in huge numbers throughout Europe.

Despite the fact that the accuracy of the facts presented in it is doubtful, this work is still considered the most valuable source containing key information on the history, ethnography and geography of the Middle East and Asian regions.

In contact with

Attention! It is known that he used the book during his sea travels. In particular, with the help of her, the Italian tried to find the shortest route to India. This book has survived to this day. It is known that Columbus made more than 70 notes on its margins.

Brief biography of the Venetian traveler

There are a lot of white spots in the biography of the famous merchant. Historians do not question the fact of its existence, but some points not fully explored.

Family

In particular, it is not known where and when the traveler was born. There are several versions of the origin:

  1. The father was a merchant Niccolo Polo. The son was born between 1254–1261. in Venice ( official years life: 1254–1324) and was the only child in the family, since at the time of birth his father had already left for China, and his mother died without waiting for her husband to return.
  2. My father was from Dolmatia (Croatia) and moved to Venice only in the middle of the 19th century. Perhaps by that time the future traveler had already been born, since there is no information about the birth in the Republic in the archives of Venice. If you follow this version, it turns out that Niccolo was a Dalmatian, and not a Venetian merchant. In Venice, he and his brothers had only a trading post.

Journey of a father and his brothers

Venetian traders to XIII century took the lead in the Mediterranean. They were the main importers of valuable goods from Africa. But this was not enough.

The eyes of the heads of the largest trading houses in Venice turned to the East. Them beckoned mysterious and richest Asia, which could offer European businessmen a lot of very different, elite and incredibly expensive goods.

Niccolo was the head of one of the most successful trading houses in Venice and, of course, wanted to conquer the eastern markets. Together with his brother Matteo, he went to the Crimea, to the city of Sudak. There was a trading post, which was led by another of their brothers - Marco. This trip took place somewhere between 1253-1260.

From Sudak, the brothers went to Sarai-Batu, the capital of the Golden Horde. There they spent a year, and then went further to Bukhara, where they stayed for another 3 years (at this moment, there was actually a war between Batu and Berke, the Mongol khans from the Genghisid clan, who were rivals). From Bukhara with a Persian caravan they moved to Khanbalyk (Beijing), where at that time another Genghisid ruled - Khubilai (Kublai). By the time Khubilai arrived, he had completely conquered China and became the Great Khan.

In Beijing, the brothers stayed for a year, were received by the khan, received from him a golden paizu, which made it possible to freely travel through the territory of the Mongol Empire, and they were also given an assignment - convey a message from Khubilai to the Pope. Great Khan wanted to send Catholic missionaries from China to China.

The brothers returned to Venice only in 1271. At the same time, Niccolo learned that his wife had died, and that he had a fully grown 16-year-old son.

Journey to China and life at the court of the Great Khan

In 1271 the whole family (father, son and father's brothers) traveled to Jerusalem. From there, the merchants set off on their way back to China. In 1275, Marco arrived in Shangdu with his father and uncle. It can be said that the young Venetian did brilliant career at the Khan's court. He writes that he was a military adviser to the Khan, as well as the governor of one of the Chinese provinces.

Attention! The traveler wrote that he spent about 17 years in China. The chronology in the book is not always accurate, but the geographical and ethnographic descriptions, descriptions of the mores that existed in the Celestial Empire at that time, are as detailed as possible.

The family managed to return to their homeland, to Venice, only in the 90s of the XIII century. Merchants took advantage of the marriage of one of the Mongol princesses, volunteering to accompany her by sea to her fiance in Persia.

Book

In Venice, no one doubted the reality of the journey made by the family(The path of Marco Polo on the map of the Republic of that time is shown very clearly).

On his return, the merchant managed to make war with the Genoese and even spent some time in a Genoese prison.

It was in prison that the book was written. More precisely, it was not the traveler who wrote, but his cellmate Rusticiano.

Marco dictated his notes and thoughts to him.

Attention! The authentic handwritten text has not been preserved. Some researchers believe that a mixture of Old French and Italian, others - that a little-known Venetian dialect. One way or another, only lists from the original manuscript have survived to our time.

The book originally consisted of four parts:

  • the first part is about the journey to China through the countries visited by Marco;
  • the second part - the customs of the Celestial Empire and the court of the Great Khan;
  • the third part is a description of the countries of Southeast Asia, Japan and India;
  • the fourth part is a story about the wars waged by the Mongols.

Path of Marco Polo on the map(according to his book) looks like this:

  • there: Venice - Jerusalem - Akka - Baghdad - Ormuz - Kerman - Kashkar - Karakorum - Beijing - Chengdu - Pagan - Beijing;
  • back: Beijing - across the entire South East Asia, Hindustan and the Middle East by sea - Ormuz - Tabriz - Constantinople - Venice.

The book was translated into many languages. It is clear that at the time of rewriting and translations, mistakes were made, inaccuracies, perhaps entire fragments of the authentic text were thrown out or fantastic additions were made, as a result, the path of Marco Polo on the map was partially changed.

last years of life

O recent years Not much is known about the life of the Venetian traveler, but all the data are documented. The merchant was married to a noble Venetian, had several houses and offices in Venice, was engaged in business, participated in litigation.

In marriage, the couple had three children, all girls. Two married merchants from Dolmatia (perhaps version of the Croatian origin of the family and is correct).

Died in 1324. Buried in the church of San Lorenzo.

Fake trip version

Some modern researchers doubt that the famous merchant really made such a journey and long time lived in China. They argue their point of view by saying that there are chronological inaccuracies in the book, there are no mentions of:

  • hieroglyphs;
  • typography;
  • porcelain;
  • gunpowder;
  • the Great Wall;
  • traditions of tea drinking and bandaging of women's feet.

Skeptics also refer to the fact that in the Chinese source there is not a word about the stay of the Venetians at the court of the Great Khan.

Arguments in defense of the traveler

Many historians believe that Polo really traveled, and did not learn from the lips of Persian merchants. Proponents of this version say that

  • spoke excellent Mongolian and Persian, Chinese(especially writing) he did not need to know, since official language there was a Mongolian at the court;
  • knew little about the traditions of China and the Chinese, as he lived rather apart, and the Chinese themselves did not favor European barbarians;
  • did not describe the Great Wall of China, since it was only fully completed during the Ming Dynasty;
  • wrote from memory, so topographical, geographical and historical inaccuracies are quite acceptable.

As for the Chinese chronicles, Europeans were rarely mentioned there at all. But in the annals of Yuan-Shi there is a mention of a certain Po-Lo, who lived and worked at the court of the Great Khan.

Attention! The book of the Venetian contains many interesting facts about the life of the court of Kublai Khan. An outsider could hardly be so aware of the smallest details life and court intrigues.

What did Marco Polo discover?

It cannot be said that the Marco Polo family has become trade route pioneer To China. Nor can it be said that this was the first contact between Europeans and Chinese.

Historians know that even the Roman emperors managed to establish contact with the Chinese Han dynasty, that in Chinese chronicles there are references to certain merchants from the countries of the “midnight sun”

(perhaps, it was about the Scandinavians or Slavs from Novgorod the Great, who made long expeditions even before Tatar-Mongol invasion), that shortly before the journey of his father and uncles, an envoy visited China french king Louis IX.

However, the journey of Marco Polo and his subsequent detailed description gave an opportunity for Europeans to learn a lot about China and the Chinese. In Europe, they started talking about paper money, coal, sago palms. A detailed description of the cultivation of spices and places of trade in them made it possible for European merchants to eliminate the Arab monopoly on this type of trade.

Marco Polo, travel map, biography

Brief biography of the traveler Mark Polo

Conclusion

In general, the travels of this family did something incredible - they brought Europe and Asia as close as possible. Marco Polo and his relatives visited many countries, thus the Venetian merchants proved that an overland journey through the Mongol Empire could be relatively safe, and therefore profitable. The question of who is Marco Polo and what did he do for rapprochement between Europe and Asia, can be considered sufficiently studied.

The most famous European traveler who visited the East. Born into the family of a wealthy Venetian merchant Niccolo Polo.


Born into the family of a wealthy Venetian merchant Niccolo Polo. In those days, Venice was the center of trade between East and West. Venetian merchants often made trips to Constantinople and the Crimea, where they had transshipment bases. During the Roman Empire, contacts with India and China were quite common, but the invasion of Muslims in the 7th century. blocked the way for Europeans to Asia. This situation existed until the Mongols created a pan-Asian empire, having conquered the Baghdad Caliphate in 1258. In 1260, Niccolo and Maffeo Polo, Marco's father and uncle, who had grown rich thanks to the resumption of ancient trade ties, went to Beijing (Khanbalai, or Tatu), which Kublai Khan, the grandson of the founder of the Mongol empire, Genghis Khan, made the capital of his vast possessions. After a nine-year absence, both merchants returned to Venice. Khubilai made them promise to return to China and bring some monks with him, as he was going to introduce Christianity to China. In 1271, the brothers set off on a long journey to the east, taking with them two monks, who, however, turned back halfway.

Research of the Far East.

On their second trip to China, Niccolo and Maffeo took Marco with them. The expedition reached Beijing in 1275 by land route and was warmly received by Khubilai. Marco was a diligent young man and had a gift for languages. While his father and uncle were trading, he studied Mongolian. Khubilai, who usually brought talented foreigners closer to the court, hired Marco to civil service. Marco soon became a member secret council, and the emperor gave him several secret assignments. One of them consisted in compiling a report on the situation in Yunnan and Burma after the latter was conquered by the Mongols in 1287, the other was in buying a tooth of Buddha in Ceylon, which in Asia was considered effective tool restoration of potency. Marco subsequently became prefect of Yangzhou, an important city on the Grand Canal.

Marco Polo made a brilliant career, for 15 years of service he perfectly studied China, and also collected a lot of information about India and Japan. Around 1290, he asked to be allowed to go home, but Khubilai refused. Marco managed to get out of China only in 1292, when he was considered the most suitable candidate to accompany the Mongol princess Kokachin to Persia, where she was to marry the local viceroy Arghun, Kublai's great-nephew. Having reached Persia, Marco received the news that Khubilai had died. This released him from the obligation to return to China, and he went to Venice, where he arrived in 1295.

The Republic of Venice was at that time at war with the Republic of Genoa. The following year, after returning to Venice, Marco found himself aboard a Venetian merchant ship that had been captured by the Genoese in the eastern Mediterranean. From 1296 to 1299 he was kept in a prison in Genoa, where he dictated the famous Book of Marco Polo to a certain Rustichello of Pisa. The book contains descriptions not only of China and the Asian mainland, but also of the vast world of islands, from Japan to Zanzibar.

Marco was released from prison in 1299. He lived in Venice until his death in 1324. In the eyes of his fellow citizens, he remained an eccentric, his stories were not believed, and their author was given the nickname Marco Millione. The ashes of Marco Polo rest in the church of San Lorenzo, but exact location burial is not known.

120 manuscripts of the Book of Marco Polo have survived. All of them differ in details. In 1938 A. Moule published the complete version of the Book. Moule carefully researched and compared big number manuscripts, including the one discovered in 1932 by the orientalist P.D. Bart in the library at cathedral in Toledo. This manuscript, known as Zelada, contains many new episodes. Therefore, Moulet's edition is closest to the original author's text of The Book of Marco Polo, although the numerous comments in the 1903 edition of Youle and Cordier are also important.

thirteenth century, for European history had great value. The era of the Crusades ended, and with it the Middle Ages went into the past, the Renaissance began. At that time, a new political system arose - a trading republic. Of a number of such countries, Genoa and Venice reached the greatest power. The second gained its strength after 1204, when it took several rich territories in the eastern Mediterranean from Byzantium.

The basis of the power of Venice was the fleet and the incredibly profitable trade with the East, which gave a profit of 35-40% of the capital initially spent. The republic flourished, but all this would have been impossible without people who were not afraid to take risks for the sake of profit and could go anywhere to return home with wealth.

The Polo family and the East. Journey to China

In the second half of the 13th century, many Venetians lived in Constantinople on the basis of a contract with the Byzantines. The city, despite the catastrophe of 1204, was still a world trade center, a bridge between Asia and Europe, a stronghold of culture and the Christian faith. It was here that the father and uncle of our hero lived.

Surely they were in contact with Persian merchants who told about the untold riches of the East. The Polo brothers decided to try their luck and went to the Crimea (to the modern city of Sudak) to the third brother Marco, who had his trading post there. From there, the travelers, pursuing the goal of replenishing their fortune, crossed over to Saray, and then to a large shopping center East Bukhara. The city turned out to be rich, but the territory Central Asia unsafe, especially during a war.

The Polo family spent 3 whole years here, until a Persian caravan passed through the city, which was heading to, to the palace of Khan Kublai. The meeting with the ruler of Asia promised great prospects. The Polos joined the caravan to meet the Khan. Arriving at the residence in 1266, they were able to make a huge impression on the khan.

The ruler of Asia at that time conquered the Song Empire. Therefore, the khan did not trust the “locals” and happily accepted foreigners into his palace, planning to use them in the administration. And then, by the way, several Venetians appeared (the Venetians were skillful liars, and who knows what they said to the Khan). The Polo brothers received a golden letter from Khubilai, granting the protection of the khan and freedom of movement throughout the Mongol empire. Khubilai sent the Venetians back to Europe, taking a promise to return with pundits, according to Marco Khan himself, he asked the Pope to send missionaries to China through them.

Returning home in 1269, Niccolo met his son, who was born in 1254. The son was already 15, and the father decided to take him with him to China, not being able to leave him in Venice. The Polo family flatly refused to look after him, since he was already an adult, but not experienced enough, and it was too risky to leave an inexperienced son to trade.

In 1271, the Polos first went to Jerusalem, to take some oil from the Holy Sepulcher for the khan, and only by 1275 did they reach the city of Dunhuang, and therefore to Kublai's summer residence in Shangdu. Khan was very pleased with the return, and according to Marco himself, was greatly fascinated by him. How a young guy with practically no education could charm the khan is a mystery. A more plausible version seems that Polo's father left his son to the khan as an adviser, in exchange for privileges in trade. Polo remained at court, where a capable and curious young man could well gain authority.

Polo, in memory of the years spent at the court, left us a description of the Khan's palace and the capital of the Yuan Empire - the city of Khanbalik (future). In particular, Marco describes the straight and spacious layout of the city, decorated with gold and Chinese dragons, the Khan's palace. The fact that he definitely had close contacts with the Mongols is also indicated by the description of their traditions. Moreover, he did not need to communicate with the Chinese in everyday life, therefore, in the "Book of Wonders of the World" there is practically no description of the life of the Chinese. However, there is no description.

Of course, Marco, as an adviser to the khan, saw her when he traveled around the country on his behalf, but what we call the Great Wall of China now was built by the Ming dynasty to protect against the same Mongols much later. In the 13th century, these were mostly earthen fortifications, only in a few areas fortified with stone. There was no need for the Mongols to support her, not to put up walls against themselves? In addition, it is very difficult to surprise a person who grew up in Europe in the 13th century with such fortification, especially after the walls of Jerusalem.

Marco does not remember tea either, since at that time it was widespread in Persia and did not represent anything special for the Venetians. He had long been accustomed to porcelain. The Venetians stayed in China for 17 years. Only in 1291 did they begin their journey home. This time they sailed by ship, as the khan married his daughter to the Persian ilkhan Arkan, and was afraid to let her go by land. The ruler of Asia did not really want to let go of such valuable people from himself, but apparently he had to.

The expedition left modern Quanzhou and, according to Polo's words, lasted 21 months. The squadron visited Japan, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Persia. Through last family I got to Constantinople, and then home to my native Venice.

Marco Polo and his medieval bestseller

The adventures of Marco Polo are known to contemporaries only by chance. According to one version, during the war with Genoa, Marco fell into the plan and was imprisoned in Genoa. There was also a writer of chivalric novels - Rusticello from Pisa, who wrote down the story of Polo. Polo himself did not have a systematic education, and most likely did not know how to write a long and extensive text.

Rusticello wrote in Franco-Latin (Marco himself dictated in his own language). Perhaps something was missed by Mark, something was omitted by Rusticello himself, later there may have been incorrect translations (the book was translated into Venetian, Latin, and then back into French from the Latin version). In this form, the "Book of Wonders of the World", or "The Travels of Marco Polo" came to us.

Despite the inaccuracies in the text, also related to the fact that Marco himself often used the stories of other people about certain events, it serves as a valuable source on the history of China in the XIII century, a reference book for geographers and travelers, even Christopher Columbus used this book in his expedition.

Of particular value in the book are stories about. Polo very colorfully describes Khanbalik (modern Beijing) as a city very rich in goods. Especially silk, up to 1000 wagons a day arrived in the capital, according to him. The port of Sinju on the Yangtze River also deserves attention. The history of China became known in Europe thanks to Marco, the Europeans learned about the manufacturing process paper money, about the work of those that we today call public utilities, fire brigades, the Mongolian administration.

But the main problem is the exaggeration of the role of Marco himself. It is not known for certain whether he embellished himself, or whether this was an initiative of translators, but his role was as a full-time adviser to Kublai, no more and no less. In fact, the book is a description of the life of a person, a traveler, a merchant, and simply a European who is passionate about traditions, architecture, culture, and geography.

Finally

The journey of Marco Polo and his uncle and father was not the first in history; shortly before them, other Europeans also came to China. China at that time was part of the vast Mongol Empire, and its capital, Khanbalik, was also located there. Therefore, to get there, even in such a position, was a great honor for any person on earth, not to mention the prestige, experience and wealth that can be obtained here.

The book became a medieval bestseller, because both then and now people love the exotic and adventure. Unfortunately, Mongol Empire was united for a short time. In 1368, the Chinese were finally able to drive out the conquerors. Khanbalik and the palaces of the Mongol khans were destroyed by the first Ming emperor, Zhu Yuanzhan. The city was renamed Beiping (literally - the pacified north). Under the third emperor, the city was finally renamed Beijing (“Server Capital”), and the famous

In the Middle Ages Far East invaded European life. Silks, spices and other goods brought by Arab merchants testified to a highly developed culture unfamiliar to Europeans. The powerful empire of Genghis Khan, which by that time had grown to an unprecedented size, occupied vast territories - almost all of Asia.

Khan Kublai

Warriors led by Batu reached Austria and defeated the German-Polish troops. Fortunately, their progress to the west was halted due to internecine strife over supreme power. In 1259, the grandson of Genghis Khan Kublai Khan, an educated man with broad views, became the Great Khan of the empire. Kublai founded the capital of Mongolia - Beijing (now the capital of the People's Republic of China).

The first Europeans to visit the Mongolian capital were the Venetian merchants Nikolo and Matteo Polo. This happened in 1270. Khubilai received the distant guests with all honors. The merchants' stories about their homeland and the Christian faith made a great impression on the khan. He asked Nicolò and Matteo to hand over to the Pope the most good wishes and a request to send to him Christian scientists and a consecrated oil.

A few years later, the merchants again visited China, taking with them two monks. I went with them to a far country and fifteen year old son Nicolo - Marco Polo. This marked the beginning of one of the most impressive journeys. The powerful ruler favored the inquisitive young man and allowed him to travel on his business to all corners of the empire. Marco Polo traveled all over the country from Mongolia to India and Sumatra. He spent 24 years in China.

Longing for his homeland, he returned to Venice, where he told about his adventures to the writer Rusticiano. And they met ... in a Genoese prison. In those days, Venice and Genoa were constantly at war, and in 1297 Marco's ship was captured. A merchant traveler got out of there, presumably with the help of a ransom.

Later, the two of them published Marco Polo's travel notes called The Book of the Diversity of the World (also known as The Book of Wonders of the World, The Book of Marco Polo). The story of a powerful highly developed civilization that lives according to other laws caused a real shock to the Europeans. Marco Polo discovered the country of silk, porcelain and spices for Europe, introduced Europeans to its customs and traditions. It became possible to gain access to the fabulous riches of the East, bypassing the Muslim Arab countries.

Even now, Marco Polo's book serves as a valuable source of information about the geography and peoples of the countries of Central, East and South Asia (China, Mongolia, India, Iran and other countries) in the Middle Ages, despite the inaccuracies it contains. After all, Marco Polo was neither a writer nor a scientist.

The journey of Marco Polo was the impetus for the search sea ​​route to East Asia. The Age of the Greats has begun geographical discoveries. It is known that Christopher Columbus, having gone "in search of western way to India", took with him the book of Marco Polo, and during the trip he made about 70 notes in it. Now this copy of the book is stored in the museum of the city of Seville.