The famous traveler Marco Polo: what he discovered

Many people, having long since graduated from school, are interested in who Marco Polo is, what he discovered, and what was so important for the world?

The beginning of the way

The famous traveler was born in Venice (or on the island of Korcula, here the information is twofold) around 1254. His father Nikolo and Uncle Maffeo were quite prosperous merchants, who had been trading for many years with the eastern countries. They visited Bukhara, on the Volga, in the possessions of Khan Khubilai. Marco Polo's famous journey, which lasted twenty-four years, began in 1271, when relatives took a seventeen-year-old boy on his next trip. The elders were engaged in commercial affairs, the junior fell on diplomatic assignments of Khan Khubilai, who very cordially met the merchants.

Selected path

The route of Marco Polo was as follows: the final point of the route was to become the town of Kambala in China (this is modern Beijing), the starting point, of course, Venice. But the rest of the points historians are subjected to all sorts of doubts. Some claim that the travelers traveled through Akka, Ormuz, Erzerum, Pamir to Kashgar, and from there to Kambala. Other researchers argue that the merchants visited Akka, on the southern coast of Asia, on the Armenian Highlands, in Kerman, Basra, the southern foothills of the Hindu Kush, the Pamirs, in the Takla-Makan Desert, spent a year in the city of Zhangye, visited the Karakorum and only then arrived To Beijing.

Life in China

Whatever their path, Marco Polo (which he discovered will become known later) and his relatives reached Beijing in 1275. In China, they stayed for many years, successfully traded, Marco himself served with the great Khan Khubilai and won his great sympathy. It was at the service of the ruler that the Italian traveled all over China, and later even became the ruler of one province called Jiangnan.

Homecoming

In 1292, the Italians still leave China, accompanying the Mongol princess, who was taken to Persia, marrying the ruler of that country. They did not go back to China, because in 1294, when they were already in Persia, they received news of the death of the great Khan. A year later the Polo merchants returned to their homeland, to Venice. In 1297, Marco Polo fights for his native city-state in a sea battle against the troops of Genoa and falls into captivity, where another captive dictates, Rusticiu from Pisa, the story of his journey. Marco died in 1324, in January, in his native Venice, being a very rich man, married, with three daughters. And what did Marco Polo discover (briefly if stated)?

Composition of Marco Polo

The book of the great traveler is an invaluable vessel of knowledge of Europeans about Eastern, Southern and Central Asia. In fact, Marco Polo opened Europeans not only China, but also all adjacent lands. The only drawback of his work is an inaccurate description of the distances along the way. But Marco was not a geographer, so it was hardly worth waiting for such accurate information from him. It is because of this shortcoming that cartographers still can not draw up detailed maps. But his work contains capacious, accurate and colorful descriptions of the customs, life, beliefs and views of the Eastern peoples. That's who Marco Polo is. What did he discover for Europe? Such elementary for modern people, but then unknown to Europeans paper money, spices, different sorts of tea, subtleties of oriental art. People have heard about cities with a population of more than a million, about Japan, Ceylon, Indonesia, Madagascar, the Sumatra and Java islands . This is where Marco Polo visited. What he discovered for Europeans is the most valuable information that has influenced in many respects the development of the civilization of Europe.