Marco Polo

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Marco Polo (1254-1324) is perhaps the most famous of all Venetians and yet no trace of his presence survives in the city of his birth. 

The house where he lived has long since disappeared; a plaque marks the site of its probable location. He was buried in San Lorenzo, but his remains seem to have disappeared during one of the several restorations of the church. 

In 1271 Marco Polo set off with his father and uncle on a journey across Asia to China, where he met the emperor Kublai Kahn. The trio would not return to Venice until 1295, twenty-four years and fifteen thousand miles later. 

At the time of their return, Venice was at war with the Republic of Genoa. As a good citizen, Polo armed a galley and in 1296 he was captured by the Genoese during a skirmish off the Anatolian coast.  He was imprisoned in Genoa where his fellow inmate was a man by the name of Rustichello di Pisa. Polo dictated details of his adventures in Asia to Rustichello and they were published as the The Travels of Marco Polo. 

He was released in 1299 and returned to Venice, where his father and uncle had bought a large house in the parish of San Giovanni Cristostomo. There he lived with his wife Donata Badoer, whom he married in 1300, and their three daughters. Marco Polo became a wealthy merchant, financing many expeditions, however, he himself never left Venice again. He died on January 8th or 9th, 1324. 

Marco Polo was known as Il Milion, on account of the perceived exaggeration of his tales. And yet on his death bed he is purported to have said: 'I did not tell half of what I saw.'

Plaque to Marco Polo

Marco Polo leaving Venice with his father and uncle