Meet Marco Polo

    Marco Polo was born in 1254 in Venice, Italy. He traveled to the Far East with his father and uncle and traveled and traded for almost 20 years.

Marco Polo grew up with interest in the stories his father and uncle told about their travels on the Great Silk Road, which was a trail leading from Western Europe to the Far East. When Marco was 17, he was allowed to accompany his father and uncle on one of their trading trips to the Far East (because his father and uncle were Italian merchants). After four years of traveling, the Polo’s came to the palace of Kublai Kahn, the Mongol ruler of China. He made Marco a senior official, and the Polo’s spent almost 20 years traveling through China and the Far East. The Polo’s finally got a chance to go back to Italy when Kublai Kahn asked them to escort a young princess to her wedding in Persia on their way home.

    Marco Polo was famous for his travels in China. He, his father, and his uncle were the only Europeans to go as far as they did into China until European merchants arrived in the 1600’s. The Polo’s were also part of the court of Kublai Kahn, the Mongol war-lord who controlled China. We are still studying Marco Polo in modern times because he was one of the first Europeans to explore far into China until more than four centuries later. Polo was captured and imprisoned during a naval battle between Venice and Genoa, another part of Italy. While in prison, and with the help of a fellow inmate, he wrote a book about his travels. Marco Polo died in 1324.

In short, Marco Polo was a merchant who, with his father and uncle, became one of the most famous and notable explorers ever.

Sources: Boughton, Simon. Great Lives. New York: Doubleday, 1988

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