The life of a great traveler: a short biography of Marco Polo. Marco Polo - a real character or a secret travel hoax

Marco Polo - famous Italian traveler, Venetian merchant, writer.

Childhood

Documents about Marco’s birth have not been preserved, so all information is approximate and inaccurate. It is well known that he was born into a merchant family that was engaged in the trade of jewelry and spices. He was a nobleman, had a coat of arms and belonged to the Venetian nobility. Polo became a merchant by inheritance: his father’s name was Nicolo, and it was he who introduced his son to travel in order to open new trade routes. Marco did not know his mother, since she died during childbirth, and this event happened when Nicolo Polo was far from Venice, on his next trip. His paternal aunt raised the boy until Nicolo returned from a long journey with his brother Maffeo.

Education

There are no documents surviving about whether Marco studied anywhere. But it is a known fact that he dictated his book to his cellmate, the Pisan Rusticiano, while he was a prisoner of the Genoese. It is known that he later learned many languages ​​during his travels, but whether he knew how to read and write is still a controversial question.

Life path

Marco made his first trip with his father to Jerusalem in 1271. After this, his father sent his ships to China, to Kublai Khan, at whose court the Polo family lived for 15 years. The Khan liked Marco Polo for his fearlessness, independence and good memory. He, according to his own book, was close to the khan and participated in solving many state issues. Together with the khan, he recruited the great Chinese army and suggested that the ruler use catapults in military operations. Kublai appreciated the agile and intelligent Venetian youth beyond his years. Marco traveled to many Chinese cities, carrying out the most difficult diplomatic assignments of the khan. Possessing a good memory and powers of observation, he delved into the life and way of life of the Chinese, studied their language, and never tired of marveling at their achievements, which sometimes surpassed even European discoveries in their level. Everything that Marco saw in China over the years he lived in this amazing country, he described in his book. Shortly before leaving for Venice, Marco was appointed ruler of one of the Chinese provinces - Jiangnan.

Kublai never agreed to let his favorite go home, but in 1291 he sent the entire Polo family to accompany one of the Mongol princesses, married to the Persian ruler, to Hormuz, an Iranian island. During this trip, Marco visited Ceylon and Sumatra. In 1294, while they were still on the road, they received news of the death of Kublai Khan. Polo no longer had any reason to return to China, so it was decided to go home to Venice. The dangerous and difficult path lay through the Indian Ocean. Of the 600 people who sailed from China, only a few managed to reach their final destination.

In his homeland, Marco Polo participates in the war with Genoa, with which Venice competed for the right to maritime trade routes. Marco, participating in one of the naval battles, is captured, where he spends several months. It was here that he dictated his famous book to his fellow sufferer, the Pisan Rusticiano, who found himself in the same cell with him.

Nicolo Polo was not sure that his son would return alive from captivity and was very worried that their family line could be interrupted. Therefore, the prudent merchant married again, and in this marriage he had 3 more sons - Stefano, Maffio, Giovanni. Meanwhile, his eldest son, Marco, returns from captivity.

Upon his return, things are going great for Marco: he marries successfully, buys a big house, and is called Mr. Million in the city. However, the townspeople mocked their compatriot, considering this eccentric merchant a liar who tells tales about distant lands. Despite the material well-being of the last years of his life, Marco yearns for travel and in particular for China. He was never able to get used to Venice, until the end of his days remembering the love and hospitality of Kublai Kublai. The only thing that made him happy in Venice were the carnivals, which he attended with great pleasure, as they reminded him of the splendor of Chinese palaces and the luxury of the khan’s outfits.

Personal life

Returning from captivity in 1299, Marco Polo married a rich, noble Venetian Donata, and in this marriage they had three lovely daughters: Bellela, Fantina, Maretta. However, it is known that Marco was very sorry that he did not have a son who could inherit his merchant property.

Death

Marco Polo was ill and died in 1324, leaving a prudent will. He was buried in the Church of San Lorenzo, which was demolished in the 19th century. The luxurious house of Marco Polo burned down at the end of the 14th century.

Polo's main achievements

Marco Polo is the author of the famous “Book of the Diversity of the World,” about which controversy still does not subside: many question the reliability of the facts described in it. However, it does a very masterful job of telling the story of Polo's journey through Asia. This book has become an invaluable source on the ethnography, geography and history of Iran, Armenia, China, India, Mongolia, and Indonesia in the Middle Ages. It became a reference book for such great travelers as Christopher Columbus, Ferdinand Magellan, Vasco da Gama.

Important dates in Polo's biography

1254 - birth
1271 - first trip with father to Jerusalem
1275–1290 - life in China
1291–1295 - return to Venice
1298–1299 - war with Genoa, captivity, “Book of the Diversity of the World”
1299 - marriage
1324 - death

Interesting facts from the life of Marco Polo

Croatia and Poland claim the right to be called the Homeland of Marco Polo: the Croats found documents according to which the family of the Venetian merchant lived on the territory of their state until 1430, and the Poles claim that “Polo” is not a surname at all, but the national identity of the great traveler.
By the end of his life, Marco Polo turned into a rather stingy, stingy man who sued his own relatives over money. However, it still remains mysterious to historians why Marco, shortly before his death, set one of his slaves free and bequeathed to him a fairly large sum of money from his inheritance. According to one version, the slave Peter was a Tatar, and Marco did this in memory of his friendship with the Mongol Khan Kublai Khan. Perhaps Peter accompanied him on his famous journey and knew that most of the stories in his master’s book were far from fiction.
In 1888, a butterfly, Marco Polo's Jaundice, was named in honor of the great explorer.

Marco Polo discovered that one of China's minerals, coal, was in common use. This is how he describes it:

“All over the country of Cathay there are black stones; they dig them up in the mountains like ore, and they burn like firewood. The fire from them is stronger than from firewood. If in the evening, I tell you, you make a good fire, it will last all night, until the morning.

These stones are burned, you know, all over the country of Cathay. They have a lot of firewood, but they burn stones because it’s cheaper and they save the trees.”

The number and wealth of the cities and the size of China's trade made a great impression on Marco Polo.

Thus, about the city of Shinju (Ichan) he writes:

“...The city is not very large, but it is a trading city, and there are many ships here... The city, you know, stands on the Jiang River, the greatest in the world. The river is wide, in some places ten miles, and in others eight or six, and more than a hundred days' journey in length; and that is why there are so many ships on it; They transport all kinds of goods along it; Great duties and great income for the Great Khan from here.

This river, I tell you, is large, flows through many countries; There are many cities along it, and there are more ships with expensive goods and the highest prices than on all the rivers and seas of Christians.

In this city, I’ll tell you, I saw more than five thousand ships at a time.

You can imagine how many ships there are in other places, when there are so many of them in a small city... More than sixteen regions flow around this river; there are more than two hundred large cities on it, and in each of them there are more courts than in this city.”

Not far from this small port was located Kinsai (Hangzhou) - “... without a doubt, this is the best, most majestic city in the world.”

“The city is about a hundred miles in circumference,” and has twelve thousand stone bridges; twelve craft guilds; the lake is a good thirty miles in circumference; streets paved with stone and brick; three thousand baths, in some of them “100 people can bathe at a time,” and 25 miles away there is sea and ocean.

“I repeat,” says Polo, “there is a lot of wealth here, and the income of the Great Khan is large; If you talk about him, they won’t give you faith.”

Polo's description of his travels in China and other countries he saw is so interesting that it is even difficult to say which places are the most fascinating. Polo left China via Zaitong (Quanzhou in Fujian). About him he says:

“... ships from India come there with various expensive goods, with all sorts of expensive stones, with large and excellent pearls.

This is a haven for merchants from Manqi [that is, the Lower Yangtze Valley] and for everyone in the neighborhood. And a lot of goods and stones come here and are taken out from here. You look and are surprised.

From here, from this city and from this pier, they disperse throughout the entire region of Manzi. For every ship with pepper that comes to Alexandria or to any other place for Christian lands, I tell you, a hundred arrive at this pier of Zaytun. This, you know, is one of the two largest ports in the world; “The most goods come here.”

Returning to his homeland in Venice by sea, Marco collected some information about the Arab sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean.

Madagascar, he said, lies “a thousand miles south of Socotra. And further south, south of this island and from the island of Zangibar, ships cannot sail to other islands: there is a strong sea current to the south, and the ship cannot return, so ships do not go there.”

This is where Marco Polo's geographical knowledge clearly ends.

Beyond Madagascar the vulture bird already lives; nevertheless, it is characteristic of Polo that, in his words, “the vulture is not at all what we think and how it is portrayed: half bird, and half lion.” “Those who have seen him say that he is just like an eagle,” but much stronger: he can grab an elephant with his claws and carry it high into the air.

Marco Polo also pays attention to countries that he himself was not able to visit.

So, he talks about Japan, about the islands of Indonesia, about Northern Europe, but these stories, being based on other people's reports or his own conjectures, have little value.

Although Marco Polo was not immediately recognized, over time his work had a great influence on geographical thought and the entire field of geographical research. His ideas were reflected in the maps of the late Middle Ages,” and especially in the Catalan map of 1375.

People such as Prince Henry the Navigator and Christopher Columbus studied his book. Marco Polo set out on his travels partly for trading purposes, partly to bring back something like an answer from the Pope to the Great Khan; he opened the door slightly, through which missionaries and merchants immediately rushed. For some period this door remained ajar, and news flowed from Asia to Europe.

Then the door closed and remained closed until another people - the Portuguese - found another route, this time by sea, around Africa and again opened the East to merchants and missionaries. However, if Marco Polo's travels did not create a permanent connection with the Far East, they were crowned with a different kind of success: the result was the most fascinating travel book ever written, which will forever retain its value.

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Presentation. Marco Polo

	Marco Polo is the greatest traveler of Europe, ahead of the era of great discoveries.
	He was born on September 15, 1254. He was born on the island of Korcula (Dalmatian Islands, Croatia). He died on January 8, 1324 (age 69).
	Marco Polo was born into the family of a Venetian trader, Nicolu Polo, whose family was involved in jewelry and spices. Since Marco Polo's birth has not survived, the traditional version of his birth in Venice was disputed in the nineteenth century by Croatian researchers who claim that the first evidence of the Polo family in Venice came back in the second half of the 13th century, which lists them as Poli di Dalmasia, and before In 1430, the Polo family received a house in Korcula, which is now in Croatia. source
	Until 1254, father and uncle Marco Nicolò and Mafeo Polo traveled with commercial interests of the land from the Black Sea to the Volga and Bukhara. They then traveled through eastern Turkistan on a diplomatic mission to the great Mongol Khan Kublai, who greeted them warmly. In 1269, the ambassadors returned to Venice with rich gifts.
	In 1271, together with the 17-year-old Marco Polo, he made another trip as traders and dispatchers for Gregory X to Asia, where they remained for many years. Young Marco Polo
	Their route was probably from the Akko desert through Erzurum and Tabriz, Iran to Hormush, and from there through Herat, Balkh and the Pamirs to Kashgar, and then to the city of Beijing. They arrived around 1275. They traded in China, but at the same time they served the Great Khan.
	Marco Polo traveled to almost all the provinces of the great state of Burma and eastern Tibet. Kublai Khan was very fond of appointing the governor of Jiannan Province. The Venetians served great Canada for seventeen years. Marco does not reveal to the reader what work he was sent to do as Kublai Khan's guardian over the years.
	It was not until 1292 that Nicholas, Mafeo and Marco Polo left China. They had instructions to escort a Mongol princess who was released to marry a Persian ruler. They sailed from the east coast of China to the coast of Persia. In 1294 they received news of the death of their patron, the great canoe. With Persia, Armenia and Trebizond they left their homeland, and in 1295, after a long absence, they arrived in Venice, which brought great happiness.
	From September 1298 until July 1299. Marco Polo was in a Geneva prison, where he was imprisoned for his role in a naval conflict. There he dictated to his prisoner Pisan Rustichel his memories of the journey.
	It lists the characteristics of each country, describing the magical practices of the Tibetans, the entire life of Indian yogis, unknown names, plants, animals. And Rustikelo adds something from his stock. In addition to this exotic alien, he discovered his own erotic dreams: a guest has the right to three days to communicate with his wife at home, the same, Tibetan women value their dignity for many lovers, Budo for him is “the best person who ever lived among the pagans" Only Islam, the eternal enemy of baptisms, does not seem attractive to him. But why is his attention not attracted to the cultural qualities that Europeans should clearly be attracted to? For example, tea ceremonies, sticks, Chinese characters?
	Just a quick mention of the women's intertwined legs. And such a structure as the Chinese wall of the wall... On the contrary, the description of the Mongolian capital Kambuluk (the future of Beijing) is quite accurate. But the description of the path leading to it is often inaccurate and even simply unrealistic. Skeptical scientists see the furthest route in Beijing or Karakoram. The most radical arguments are given by the English researcher and historian Francis Wood and the German geographer Dietmar Henze. In their opinion, Marco Polo was never bigger than Crimea. He allegedly took data from Persian and Arabic travel accounts. Instead of wandering around the world, he sat in his study until the war was brought back to Venice. Nevertheless, this description of the amazing wonder of the world was an exceptional success. It was immediately translated into all Western European languages. The book can be read as a geographical collection, as an adventure novel and as a historical work.
	Christopher Columbus was not the first European to visit America. The new continent was discovered by the Venetian merchant Marco Polo. This conclusion was made by FBI historians who, since 1943, have studied the map stored at the Library of the National Congress in Washington. America was not discovered by Columbus, but by Marco Polo. ? Marco Polo Columbus
	The antique postcard was presented by a certain Marcian Rossi in the library in 1933. It "shows parts of India, China, Japan, eastern India and North America," said a logger at the time. The emblem drawn on the map is a ship, according to which it was written in the shape of the name of Marco who crossed the Polo. Destaline processing of the maps under infrared rays showed that there are three layers of ink, indicating that it is. If the map is indeed hand-painted by a Venetian trader, then Marco Polo went to America two centuries before Christophe Columbus. It is believed that when he returned to Venice in 1295 on his long trip to Asia, Marco Polo brought with him the first information about the existence of North America. This path was the first to draw the space separating Asia from America, which appeared on European maps only 400 years later. Before his assassination, Marco Polo told his friends that he had written "only half of what he saw" while traveling in Asia.
	Memorial stone in honor of Marco Polo in Samarkand.
	Monument to Marco Polo in Hangzhou, China.
	Croatia.
	Macro Polo Bridge, located on the southwestern outskirts of Beijing.
	When Marco Polo arrived in Beijing, the Chinese surprised themselves with their hat. Huge numbers in the hat, no matter how many of them there were.
	In Venice you can get to Marco Polo Airport, about ten kilometers from Venice.
	Hotel Marco Polo St. Petersburg 3 stars
	Book by Pavel Pol.
	The presentation was completed by Olga Smokina. Kolomiets Mark. Students of class 7-RO

13. What contribution did Marco Polo make to the development of geography? 14. Who and when was the first European to land on the shores of Australia? 15. Who owns the discovery of the islands of Oceania? 16. Who owns the discovery of Antarctica? 17. Who and when was the first to reach the South Pole? 18. Which navigator made three trips around the world? a) Ferdinand Magellan; b) James Cook; c) Otto Schmidt.

19 Name the Russian explorers and their geographical discoveries? 20. Which outstanding Ukrainian geographers of the 20th century. You know?

Marco Polo short biography

21. Which territories were little known to Europeans at the beginning of the 20th century? and for what reasons? 22. Name five famous geographical features named after their discoverers?

Answers:

13.-discovered India and China

Abstract: Marco Polo

MARCO POLO

One of the Arabian fairy tales, “The Thousand and One Nights,” tells about the extraordinary adventures of a merchant who was nicknamed Sinbad the Sailor. A brave traveler, he sailed into distant lands on stormy seas, penetrated inaccessible mountains, fought with a giant snake, saw the terrible bird Roc, which lifts into the air and carries away a live bull to its nest.

This is a very old fairy tale, but it is still read with captivating interest. And 700-800 years ago in medieval Europe, people sincerely believed that, in fact, in the distant countries of the East there was a voracious snake, and a terrible bird, the Roc, and many other equally amazing miracles. In those distant times, Europeans knew almost nothing about the rich cities of China and India, about the swampy jungles and huge highlands of Asia, about the large agricultural plains through which the great rivers flow - the Yangtze and the Huang He.

In Europe, goods from eastern countries were highly valued: ivory and products made from it, precious stones, spices - cinnamon, cloves, pepper, which gave a special taste to food.

Genoa and Venice, large trading cities, conducted extensive trade with the East through Arab merchants.

Arab merchants, bringing overseas goods to European ports, talked about distant and inaccessible countries of the Asian continent. Thus, some geographical information about mysterious lands - India, China, the islands of the Malay Archipelago - reached Europe.

Descriptions of the countries of the East where European travelers visited appear. In these descriptions, an unknown world of distant Asia with a high, multifaceted culture of its peoples, with a unique nature, opened up before Europe. The most remarkable of these descriptions was made by the traveler Marco Polo, originally from Venice.

His father, an enterprising Venetian merchant, together with his brother, spent fourteen years trading in Veliky Novgorod in the countries of the East.

Marco Polo - the great traveler from old Venice

Returning to their native Venice, the Polo brothers went to the East again two years later, this time taking the young man Marco with them.

The years of wanderings of the Venetians began.

MarcoPolo sailed to the shores of Asia along the Mediterranean Sea. Valley river He reached the Tiger through Baghdad to Basra, a port city near the Persian Gulf. Here he again boarded ship and, with a fair wind, sailed to Hormuz. From here, along difficult, long caravan routes, Marco Polo traveled all over Central Asia, lived in Mongolia and China, served at the court of the Mongol Khan, and visited many Chinese cities.

Returning to Venice on a Chinese ship, Marco Polo crossed the Indian Ocean.

This difficult voyage lasted a year and a half.

Of the 600 people who started it, by the end of the journey, only a few were left alive. During his voyage, Marco Polo saw Sumatra, Ceylon and the coast of Hindustan.

From the Persian Gulf by dry land, through deserts and mountains, and then again by ship across the Mediterranean Sea, he finally reached Venice.

Marco Polo spent about a quarter of a century away from his native city.

Soon after his return, Marco Polo had one more adventure - the last one of his life. His homeland - Venice and another rich trading city - Genoa - fought wars of supremacy in trade. Venetian and Genoese merchants then knew no less about valebards, swords and grappling hooks than they did about steelyards and account books.

Marco Polo also took part in one of the naval clashes. The Venetians were defeated, he was captured by the Genoese and was imprisoned.

Some time later, Marco Polo returned from captivity to his homeland in Venice and lived there safely for another 25 years, dying in 1324.

In Genoese captivity, Marco Polo created the “Book of the Diversity of the World” - an immortal monument to his journey. The birth of this book was unusual: under the dictation of MarcoPolo, it was written in prison by Rusticiano, a native of Pisa, a writer of chivalric novels, who also found himself in Genoese captivity.

In the damp semi-darkness of the dungeon, Marco Polo conducted his leisurely story, and Rusticiano filled out page after page under his dictation.

Having finished the next part of his memoirs, Marco Polo added in conclusion: “Let’s leave this country and tell about others in order. Please listen."

And Rusticiano began recording a new chapter.

On his way from Venice to Mongolia, Marco Polo passed through the “Roof of the World” - the Pamirs. Remembering this, he dictated: “You go to the northeast, all over the mountains, and rise to the highest, they say, place in the world. On that high place between two mountains there is a plain along which a glorious river flows. The best pastures in the world are here; The thinnest cattle will get fat here in ten days.

There are a lot of wild animals here. There are a lot of big wild sheep here...” The higher the traveler climbed to the Pamirs, the harsher nature became: “... all the time there is no housing or grass; you need to bring food with you. There are no birds here because it’s high and cold. Because of the great cold, the fire is not as bright or the same color as in other places, and the food is not cooked so well.”

The traveler tells about the road through the Gobi desert: “And that desert, I tell you, is great; in a whole year, they say, you won’t be able to walk along it; and even where it is already, you can barely walk a month.

There are mountains, sands and valleys everywhere; and no food anywhere.”

Among the most interesting are the chapters of the book that tell about China. Marco Polo talks with admiration about Chinese cities.

The medieval European merchant did not know how to understand everything about China, but kept silent about some things, rightly fearing that his compatriots would not understand him: after all, the Chinese culture of that time was in many ways superior to the culture of medieval Europe. For example, Marco Polo does not report on book printing in China, which was not yet known in Europe at that time. But what the traveler told about opened up a new wonderful world to the Europeans. “We told you about many regions, now let’s leave all this and start about India and all the wonders there,” - this is how a new chapter begins in the Venetian’s book. The traveler reports that there are rains in India only three months a year - June, July, August.

“In all of India, animals and birds are not like ours. Only the quail is the same as ours,” he says, comparing the nature of India with his native Italian nature. Marco Polo also talks about how people in India eat rice, not bread.

He colorfully describes the different customs of the inhabitants of Indian soil.

MarcoPolo’s book also tells about Japan, Java and Sumatra, Ceylon, Madagascar and many other countries, localities and islands.

Marco Polo had a better idea of ​​a map of the Earth than any of his European contemporaries. But how far from reality were many of his geographical ideas!

North Asia seemed to him a land of eternal darkness. “In the north... there is a dark country; It’s always dark here, there’s no sun, no moon, no stars; It’s always dark here, just like here at dusk.”

There are many things wrong with Marco Polo's stories about East Asia. He imagined Japan as an island with countless amounts of gold: “Gold, I tell you, they have great abundance.”

At the very beginning of his story, the traveler stated: “Everyone who reads or listens to this book will believe it, because everything here is true.” But contemporaries did not believe the Venetian. He was considered the teller of all sorts of amusing fictions. It should be said that the traveler sometimes wove into his narrative fantastic legends that he happened to hear during the years of distant wanderings.

Thus, Marco Polor talks about the vulture - a bird of extraordinary size and strength, which soars into the air with an elephant in its claws, then throws it to the ground, and the elephant breaks, the vulture “pecks at it, eats it and feeds on it.” The name of this extraordinary vulture, the traveler reports, is the Roc bird. How can one not remember “A Thousand and One Nights”!

However, Marco Polo’s compatriots in those days could believe this legend.

Geographical maps of the Middle Ages that have survived to this day contain images of equally fantastic birds and animals. But other, quite truthful stories of the Venetian seemed like fiction: that in China they heat their homes with “black stone” and the fire from this stone is stronger than from firewood, that in the Indian Ocean a sailor cannot find the North Star in the sky, because in these places it is hidden behind the horizon .

But time passed... Other travelers brought new information confirming the stories of the Venetian in the countries that he saw with his own eyes.

According to the book of Marco Polo, cartographers put on maps the lands, rivers, and cities mentioned in it. And two hundred years after its publication, this book was read carefully, line by line, by the famous Genoese sailor Christopher Columbus: a copy of the book with notes made by him has been preserved. No longer as a collection of fairy tales, but as a reliable source of knowledge, the book of Marco Polo continued its life, whose journey turned out to be one of the most remarkable in the centuries-old history of the knowledge of the Earth.

Presentation. Marco Polo

	September 15, 1254 - January 8, 1324 Marco Polo Completed by: Klimova Elizaveta Sergeevna 1st year student of full-time study group: UB - 212 specialty: personnel management Accepted by: Avdonina. A.M.
	Marco Polo was a simple Venetian merchant, but left a memory of himself as the greatest traveler. His travels were ridiculed and the stories about them were called absurd fables. But Marco Polo, even on his deathbed, claimed that it was true - everything that he told the world. (c. 1254-1324)
	Marco Polo was born around 1254 in the family of the Venetian merchant Niccolo Polo, whose family was involved in the jewelry and spice trade. Biography of Marco Polo
	In 1271, when Marco Polo was 17 years old, he went with his father Niccolò and uncle Matteo on a trip to the East. That journey had its own backstory.
	From Venice, travelers headed to Laiazzo and from there overland to the Christian kingdom of Armenia. From there the travelers moved to the territory conquered by the Mongols. Baghdad, destroyed thirteen years ago, had already been rebuilt by that time. At the mouth of the Euphrates, travelers boarded a ship and headed to the Persian port of Hormuz, which was also under Mongol rule.
	The journey to the Khan's court lasted three years. And finally... the Polo brothers returned to Kublai and introduced him to young Marco, who immediately won the sympathy of the khan.
	Marco Polo spent seventeen years at the court of the Great Khan. How did this young stranger and youth earn trust?
	Marco Polo was the first European to describe the Mongol capital Khanbalik (present-day Beijing). At the end of the 13th century there were more than a million inhabitants. A seething, diverse crowd filled the streets. It was the largest city in the world. Like ten Venices, and Venice was the third largest in Europe...
	The Lugouqiao Bridge (Marco Polo Bridge) is famous not only in China, but also far beyond its borders. Its history goes back 800 years. Lugouqiao Bridge is located 20 km west of Beijing in the Fengtai district on the banks of the Yundinghe River. The bridge is built of white stone. Its length reaches 266 meters and its width is more than 9 meters. At the very banks, the spans are 16 meters wide, and further on, one is wider than the other. The bridge has railings on both sides, connected by many pillars (280), also made of white marble, decorated with carvings in the traditional style. At the top of each column sits either a lion with a giant pearl or a lioness with cubs.
	In 1298, Marco Polo took command of a military galley that took part in the battle with the Genoese fleet off the island of Curzola. Thus, in a Genoese prison at the end of the 13th century, two prisoners left a mark for centuries.
	Marco Polo presented the story of his journey through Asia in his famous story, The Book of the Variety of the World. Despite the distrust of this book, which appeared soon after its appearance and continues to this day, the journey of Marco Polo serves as a valuable source on the geography, ethnography, history of Iran, China, Mongolia, India, Indonesia and other countries in the Middle Ages. This book had a significant influence on sailors, cartographers, and writers of the 14th-16th centuries. In particular, she was on the ship of Christopher Columbus during his search for a route to India.
	Marco Polo's book had all sorts of names. In England it is still called “The Travels of Marco Polo”, in France - “The Book of the Great Khan”, in other countries “The Book of the Diversity of the World” or simply “The Book”. Marco himself entitled his manuscript “Description of the World.” Written in Old French rather than Latin, it quickly circulated in copies throughout Europe.
	Monument to Marco Polo in Mongolia
	Monument to Marco Polo in China
	Thank you for your attention!

A journey from Europe to China in the Middle Ages can probably be compared with a journey into space in the 20th century. Just as our compatriots knew by name all the once few cosmonauts, we can try to count on our fingers all the Europeans who visited the Far East. The era of the Great Geographical Discoveries was still very far away, but one of these discoveries was made already at the end of the 13th century. It cannot be said that before Marco Polo, Europe did not know about China. But it was the great Venetian who made this name widely known.

Marco Polo was born on one of the Dalmatian islands of Korcula in 1254. The islands then belonged to Venice, and the Polo family was actively involved in the extensive trading activities of this republic. Father Marco Nicolo and uncle Matteo chose the eastern direction to develop their trade. They had connections with the Crimea and Asia Minor, and soon after Marco’s birth they decided on a long journey to China. Kublai Khan, who ruled there, made them promise to return to China and bring with him several Christian monks.

In 1269, the elder Polos returned to Venice, and three years later they went to China again, this time taking 17-year-old Marco with them. By sea, the merchants reached the southeastern shores of Asia Minor, from there they followed by land, probably from Akkon (Akka) through Erzurum, Tabriz and Kashan (Iran) to Hormuz (Hormuz) and from there through Herat, Balkh and Pamir to Kashgar and further to Cathay (China), to the city of Kambala (Beijing). In 1275, the Polos reached Khanbalik (Beijing), where Genghis Khan's son Kublai Khan (Kubla Khan) ruled.

It is not entirely clear how this happened, but the older Venetians and especially their young comrade were treated kindly by the khan. The Mongols created a coherent state system in China, united various provinces, and required experienced officials, educated and energetic people. Marco was a diligent young man and had a talent for languages. While his father and uncle were engaged in trade, he studied the Mongolian language. Khubilai, who usually brought talented foreigners to his court, hired Marco into the civil service. Soon Marco became a member of the privy council, and the emperor gave him several assignments. One of them was to compile a report on the situation in Yunnan and Burma after the latter was conquered by the Mongols in 1287, the other was to purchase a Buddha tooth from Ceylon. Marco subsequently became prefect of Yangzhou.

The Polos stayed under Kublai for 17 years. Over the years of service, Marco studied China and collected a lot of information about India and Japan. In 1290, he asked to be allowed to go home, but Kublai refused. In 1292, Khubilai gave the Venetians his last important task - to escort the Mongol princess Kokachin to Persia, where she was to marry the local ruler Arghun, Khubilai's grandnephew. The junk with the Polo family on board departed from South China. From the Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean, the ships passed through the Strait of Malacca and made a three-month stop on the shores of the island of Sumatra. After stopping on the island of Ceylon and sailing along the western coast of India, the ships entered the Persian Gulf and dropped anchor in the city of Hormuz. During the voyage, Marco Polo managed to obtain some information about the African coast, Ethiopia, the islands of Madagascar, Zanzibar and Socotra. In Persia, the Polos received news of the death of the Chinese Khan, which relieved them of the obligation to return to China. Marco and his relatives reached Venice in 1295 without much incident.

Marco Polo quickly became famous among his fellow countrymen for his stories about distant and amazing countries. Many laughed at him, believing that paper money, tree-lined streets, and other miracles were nothing more than fiction. Either because of the word “million”, which the narrator often used when describing the wealth and population of China (the word meant “a thousand thousands”), or using the traditional nickname of the Polo family, Marco was nicknamed Mr. Million. In 1297, during a naval skirmish, Marco Polo was captured by the Genoese. In prison he met the Pisan writer Rusticiano. He wrote down his cellmate’s stories in a book, which he called “The Book of the Diversity of the World.” This book is also known under other names: “The Book of Marco Polo” and simply “Million”. It contained descriptions not only of China and the Asian mainland, but also of the vast world of islands, from Japan to Zanzibar. Despite the fact that the invention of printing was still very far away, the book gained popularity during the lifetime of its author. Marco himself, upon leaving prison, showed great enterprise in advertising his work. It was rewritten, translated, and the traveler gave copies to influential people in different countries.

“The Book of Marco Polo” contains extremely valuable information on the geography, ethnography, history of Armenia, Georgia, Iran, China, Mongolia, India and Indonesia. The mysterious country of Chipango (Japan) is also mentioned there. Much of what the Venetians ridiculed was true, although Marco did not do without some fables and exaggerations. His information about distances was particularly inaccurate, which led some geographers to place China much further east than it should have. This is probably why Christopher Columbus was so confident in the success of his proposed voyage to Asia. After all, he also carefully read The Book of Marco Polo.

Marco Polo died in Venice in 1324. They say that he was a wealthy man, but this data is refuted by some historians who claim that the most famous “storyteller” of that time remained a poor man.

The most interesting facts. The Journey of Marco Polo

A resident of Venice, Marco Polo (1254-1324), was only seventeen years old when in 1271, together with his father, named Niccolo, and his uncle Matteo, Venetian merchants, he climbed onto the deck of a ship and set off to travel. The Venetians were heading to China.

First, they traveled by sea across Anatolia, that is, to the Asia Minor peninsula (now in Turkey). Then, by land, overcoming passes, we passed through the Armenian Highlands, crossed Mesopotamia, the Iranian Highlands, and the mountainous country of the Pamirs, which today belongs to Tajikistan. Having passed through the deserts of Western and Eastern Turkestan (now Xinjiang), the travelers - after three and a half years of travel! - we finally reached the palace of the Great Khan. At the time when Marco Polo traveled around Asia, China was called Cathay, and the capital of Cathay, Beijing, was called Khanbalik.

In ancient Khanbalik there was a fortress of the great Mongol Khan Kublai Khan. He was the grandson of the founder of the Mongolian state, Genghis Khan. The Great Khan greeted the Venetians with great honor. He especially liked young Marco, whom he soon invited to his service. Marco Polo became the Khan's personal envoy and traveled extensively throughout the Chinese provinces.

In 1295, Marco Polo said goodbye to the court of the Great Khan and set off on a journey back to his native Venice. According to some reports, barely having time to return to his homeland, the traveler in 1298 took part in the war with Genoa, during which the Genoese captured Marco Polo. In prison, he told the story of his amazing adventures to his fellow prisoner Rustichello (Rusticiano), who came from Pisa. The Pisan recorded the stories of Marco Polo and compiled the “Book of the Diversity of the World,” which enjoyed great success in Europe. But the essay significantly expanded Europeans’ knowledge of the Asian continent, awakening their interest in geography and travel.

about the journey of Marco Paul

Genghis Khan founded his power at the beginning of the 13th century. The Mongol Empire during his reign reached incredible proportions - neither before nor after him was there such an immense country in the history of mankind. The Mongols conquered almost all of mainland Asia and large parts of Eastern Europe. But after the death of the conqueror, his empire began to disintegrate. Already in the middle of the 14th century. the Mongols were expelled from China. Modern Mongolia is an independent republic in Central Asia. Almost its entire territory (1,565 thousand sq. km) is occupied by steppes and deserts. But, despite the vast expanses of the country, its population is small - on average per 1 sq. km there are not even two people.

A short biography of Marco Polo will help you compile a report about the Venetian traveler.

Marco Polo biography briefly

Born in 1254 in the family of the Venetian merchant Niccolo Polo. In 1260, Marco's father and uncle went to Beijing, which Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan, made the capital of his possessions. Kublai made them promise to return to China and bring with him several Christian monks. In 1271 the brothers again set off on a long journey to the east, taking Marco with them. The expedition reached Beijing in 1275 and was warmly received by Kublai Kublai.

Marco was a capable young man and knew 5 foreign languages. While his father and uncle were engaged in trade, he studied the Mongolian language. Khubilai, who usually brought talented foreigners to his court, hired Marco into the civil service. Soon Marco became a member of the Privy Council, then for some time served as governor of Yangzhou.

During his 15 years of service, Marco studied China and collected a lot of information about India and Japan. Khubilai did his best to prevent Marco from returning to Venice, so Polo’s stay in China dragged on for fifteen years.

In 1291, the khan nevertheless released Makro Polo and his comrades, ordering them to deliver the Mongol princess to Hormuz. On fourteen ships, the procession circumnavigated Indochina, visited Ceylon, India and reached the Persian island of Hormuz. Marco Polo returned to Venice only in 1295.

Returning to Venice, Marco found himself aboard a Venetian merchant ship and was captured by the Genoese in the eastern Mediterranean. From 1296 to 1299 he was in prison in Genoa, where he wrote “The Book of the Diversity of the World.” The book contains descriptions not only of China and mainland Asia, but also of the vast world of islands - from Japan to Zanzibar.

In 1299 Marco was released, returned to Venice and married (he had three daughters). In the eyes of his fellow citizens, he remained an eccentric; no one believed his stories.

The book of Marco Polo consists of four parts. The first describes the territories of the Middle East and Central Asia that Marco Polo visited on his way to China. The second describes China and the court of Kublai Khan. The third part talks about coastal countries: Japan, India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia and the east coast of Africa. The fourth describes some of the wars between the Mongols and their northern neighbors. The Book of Wonders of the World is one of the most popular objects of historical research.

Marco Polo ( 8 - 9 January 1254 G. - 1324 g.) presented the story of his travels through Asia in the famous “Book of the Diversity of the World” or also known as “The Travels of Marco Polo” published in 1300 year.

The book in which he described to Europeans the wealth and enormous size of China, its capital Beijing and other cities and countries of Asia.

Despite doubts about the reliability of the facts presented in this book, expressed from the moment of its appearance to the present time, it serves as a valuable source on the geography, ethnography, history of Armenia, Iran, China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, India, Indonesia and other countries in the Middle Ages .

The book written by Marco had a significant influence on sailors, cartographers, writers XIV-XVI centuries.

In particular, she was on the ship of Christopher Columbus during his search for a route to India. According to researchers, Columbus made on it 70 notes.

Trade route

Marco learned about the trade route from his father and uncle Maffeo Polo when the two traveled through Asia and fatefully met Kublai Khan.

IN 1269 After the end of the trip, the brothers returned to and met their 15 year-old son Marco.

IN 1271 - 1295 After careful preparation, Marco Polo makes his epic journey to China with his father Niccolo and his father's brother Mafeo Polo.

There is another war going on between Venice and Genoa.

Marco Polo goes to prison. While in prison, Marco dictated his first stories to his cellmate and managed to write an interesting library of his manuscripts, which were later used in the creation of a unique book in that period of time.

Marco was released at 1299 year, became a rich merchant, married and had three children. He died in 1324 year and was buried in the Church of San Lorenzo in .

On the edge XIV-XVI For centuries, his book was read to develop the concept of the world.

Marco Polo was not the first European to reach China, but he was the first to leave a detailed chronicle of his journey.

This book inspired not only Christopher Columbus, but also many other travelers.

Polo Family

Marco Polo was born into the family of a Venetian merchant, Nicolo Polo, whose family was involved in the jewelry and spice trade.

He made the most important journey of his life in 1274 from the city of Soldaya ().

Travels of the Polo Brothers

IN 1260 year Nicolo (father of Marco Polo), together with his brother Maffeo, went to the main seaport of the Venetians on the Black Sea in Soldai.

Maffeo, seeing the flourishing of trade, stayed and founded a large trading house in Soldai.

In the same 1260 Maffeo founded a new brand, Polo, in Soldai.

The Maffeo Polo Soldiers' Base helped in preparing for such long and dangerous journeys.

The route the brothers took, in 1253 a year has passed.

After spending a year in Sarai-Batu, the brothers moved on to Bukhara. Due to the danger of hostilities waged by Khan Berke (Batu’s brother) in this region, the brothers were forced to postpone their return home.

Having stayed in Bukhara for three years and unable to return home, they joined the Persian caravan, which sent Khan Hulagu to Khanbalik (modern Beijing) to his brother, the Mongol Khan Kublai, who by that time had practically completed the defeat of the Chinese Song Dynasty and soon became the sole ruler Mongol Empire and China.

Brothers Niccolò and Maffeo Polo became first"Europeans" who visited China.

Traveler Marco Polo

They owned the city for a century and a half. It was a time of unprecedented prosperity for Soldaya, years of glory and wealth, but also a time of severe upheavals, enemy invasions and devastation.

The famous traveler Marco Polo tells about the trade of the Venetians in Soldai:

“At the time when Baldwin (one of the leaders of the crusaders) was emperor in Constantinople, i.e. 1260 g., two brothers, Mr. Nicolo Polo, the father of Mr. Marco, and Mr. Maffeo Polo, were also there; they came there with goods from . They consulted among themselves and decided to go to the Great Sea () for gain and profit. They bought all sorts of jewelry and sailed from Constantinople to Soldaya.”

From the spiritual will it is known that the house of the Polo family in Soldai remained.

The book written by Marco Polo is one of the most popular objects of historical research. Bibliography compiled in 1986 year, contains more 2300 scientific works only in European languages.

December 2011 year in Ulaanbaatar, next to Genghis Khan Square, a monument to Marco Polo by the Mongolian sculptor B. Denzen was erected.

In honor of Marco Polo there is an Italian satellite TV channel that broadcasts via satellite Hotbird 13E

IN 2014 The series "Marco Polo" was filmed.

Page from a manuscript completed during Polo's lifetime