Next time you are wondering around Venice do not forget to visit the court yard where one of the cities most famous son's Marco Polo, once lived. First you need to find Corte Prima del Milion which sits near the Railto bridge. In the very small squre you will find a nice place to eat called 'Osteria Milion', then pass through Calle del Milion passing under a second sottoporticio to Corte Seconda del Milion, this where the Polo family is suppose to have lived. The name of the courtyard is said to come from the book 'The Million', about Marco Polo's travels in the east.
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| Alleyway Leading to the Courtyard of Marco Polo |
Marco
Polo was the son of Nicolò Polo and born in Venice in 1215. Nicolò,
together with his brother Matteo, had a trading company, which
specialized in Orient goods. This explains why the Polo's decided to
travel to Katai in China, this area at the time had never been
visited by other Europeans. The Polo's were trying to corner the market on Chinese goods
and perhaps satisfy their desire to explore new and mysterious lands.
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| Marco Polo |
The books chronicles how the Polo brothers set sail, taking along Marco who at the time was 17 years old, plus they carried a Papal bull. The trip to get to Katai took three years, as they passed through Anatolia, Irn, Pamir, Turkestan, and the Gobi Desert, and then across the China to the legendary city of Beijin. The city of Beijin was ruled at the time by the Mongol King Kublai Khan.
The Emperor kept the Polo's in China for 17 years, and finally in 1292 the Polo's were granted permission to return to Venice. The records from that era tell how the Polo's returned to Venice and due to their manner of dress, even their own relatives failed to recognize them. The clothes were out of fashion for the Venetians but they allowed the Polo's to hide precious stones, that the Polo's used to restart their trade business.
Marco Polo himself later served in the Venetian navy and took part in the Curzola Canal naval battle between Venice and Genoa. He was captured on September 7, 1298 and imprisoned by the Genoans, who seem to have treated him as a VIP prisoner. It was during this time at Marco Polo dictated his book 'The Million' to his cell mate Rutichello, a writer who was from Pisa. The book did not meet with success at first, and Polo was called the 'Milioni di Bugie' (Guy of million lies), since no else could validate the story everyone considered the book full of exaggerated claims.
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| The Travel Routes of Marco Polo |
Later as more individuals traveled west the book was considered to be one of the best adventure books ever, it has been said Christoper Columbus was a big fan of the book. There are still versions of the book and is a good read, in English you will find the book as 'The Travels of Marco Polo'.
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| Did Marco Polo play in this square as a child? |
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