Marco Polo: Genoa

On returning to Venice, Marco was imprisoned for in year in Genoa (located in Italy). The reason he was imprisoned was because of his participation in the Venetian navy who fought against Genoa. In 1298 AD, the soldiers were defeated and Marco Polo was caught. In the prison, there was a writer name Rustichello. Marco told Rustichello all the interesting things he had seen and heard during his travels. As Marco told, Rustichello wrote. From what Rustichello wrote, it soon became a book called The Travels of Marco Polo. The book illustrated how the travels impacted Marco and also the customs and values that Marco had brought back with him to Venice.

Marco Polo: Persia

Kublai Khan ordered Marco to take his betrothed daughter to Persia (modern-day Iran) where she would be married. With Marco on board with the task, Marco and the Princess began to sail southward on the China Sea. According to Marco, the voyage was long and perilous. One of the stops during the Voyage was Borneo where they stayed for a couple of days then continued on. They also stopped in Ceylon and Sumatra. As the reached the Persian Gulf, the princess started getting ready for marriage. After Marco, the princess, and three other Venetians reach the capital of Persia, they were entertained by the Persians for weeks in a magnificent manner and expensive presents were given to all.

Marco Polo: Acre

Marco was just a seventeen when his father and uncle came back. Marco’s father Niccolo and his brother Maffeo decided to take you Marco with them as they left once again to travel the world. From Venice, the Polos began their journey by across the Mediterranean Sea. After they left Venice, the Polo’s first stop was the ancient port of Acre (modern day Israel). From there, they rode camels to the Persian port of Hormuz, which is now in Iran. The travelers continued by camel across the deserts and mountains of Asia. The travelers continued by camel across the deserts and mountains of Asia. More than three years after leaving Venice, they reached Kublai Khan's summer palace in Shangdu

Marco Polo: Sumatra

To get to Sumatra Marco and his father and uncle sailed through the Strait of Malacca. As he was in Sumatra, Marco wrote that Sumatra was divided into eight kingdoms, and each kingdom spoke a different language. The kingdom that Marco stayed in was called Ferlec which today could be called Perak which is in the northern part of Malaysia. As he was in Ferlec Marco said that the people used to be Hindus but later converted to Islam through the contact with Muslim merchants. In Ferlec Marco learned new religions which he would later tell his people I n Venice.

Marco Polo: China

An emperor of Cathay named Kublai Khan lived in Peking, China, and before Marco had ever left Venice, his father and uncle had been to Cathay and met with Kublai Khan many times. Marco’s father and uncle entertained the emperor with stories of Western Europe. When Marco’s father and uncle came back to Peking where Kublai Khan currently lived Marco came along. The emperor became so happy to see Marco (about 15 or 16 at the time) that later on, important positions in the Chinese court were given to Marco. Marco became a trusted friend of Kublai Khan. He lived in China for a couple of years moving around the country and studied the Chinese. Later on he was able to speak the language.

Marco Polo: Persian Gulf

Marco reached the Persian Gulf around 1272 with his father and uncle. They were planning to be head to china on ships, but the ships weren’t in a good enough shape to beat the storms of the Indian Ocean. Marco describes the ships as “being built without the benefit of nail but rather sewn together”. Instead of using ships the Polos traveled by land trough Afghanistan, where they found ruby minds. Marco got a fever while in Afghanistan, so the Polos stay in that region for about a year. Marco says that the almost magical quality of the high altitude and pure air cured his sickness.

Marco Polo: India

From Sri Lanka, Marco stopped in India. His account of his stay described the local customs, religion, dress and diet. He was very amazed by how differently the Indians lived compared to the Venetians He also talked about in his account the pearl-fishing industry in the Gulf of Mannar and the importation of Arabian horses from Hormus, Kais, Dhufar, Shihr, an Aden. India thrived with exotic produce that Marco had never seen. He also said in his account that India had the most vibrant culture. After leaving India he took with him many things. Marco took a lot what he learned from India to other places. 

Marco Polo :Venice

No one is really sure on the exact date of Marco Polo's birth, but it was estimated to be around 1254 into a noble family of Venetian merchants. Mostly his mother raised Marco Polo because his father Niccolo and his brother Maffeo left Venice to travel the world. It was nine years until Marco could see his father and uncle again. Marco received the same education then the other boys of his time. He was a well-educated man. He knew a lot of the classical authors, understood text from the bible and knew the basic theology of the Latin Church. He also had a sound knowledge of commercial French and Italian.

 

 

Google Maps Project

This is the introduction to the Google Maps Project. The traveler I chose was Marco Polo. The link to the google map for Marco's travels will be located in the last posting of this project

Get to know me

This is a chance to get to know me a little. Here is a link to Google Maps to show where I was born and the places I have lived.

Here's the link

-Ray Ray