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A citizen of the Republic of Venice, Polo grew up in a family where both his father Niccoló and uncle Maffeo were merchants. Even before Marco was born, the brothers had travelled extensively, setting up trading posts in Constantinople, Sudak, Crimea, and the western part of the Mongolian Empire. They even visited China.

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Marco Polo’s mother died when he was just a child, after which he was taken care of by his aunt and uncle.

The Polo brothers returned to Venice in April 1269 and the now teenaged Marco could finally be reunited with his father.

Presenting the pope with the letter from Kublai Khan proved impossible for the brothers, since Pope Clement IV had died in 1268 and no new pope had been elected yet.

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the Polo brother’s embarked on a new journey, and this time they brought Marco with them. This trip, which would end up taking 24 years since they stayed for very long in China, is the one chronicled by Marco Polo in his book. It has been assumed that the Polos travelled along the Northern Silk Road, although the possibility of a southern route has also been advanced by some scholars.

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Marco Polo and his travels have had a very large cultural influence on the western world.  The 13th-century book by Rustichello “Book of the Marvels of the World” later know as “The travels of Marco Polo” was a best-seller and had a huge impact on Medieval and Early Modern explorers, missionaries, and merchants.

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In 1271, the Polo brothers embarked on a new journey, and this time the took Marco with them. They had finally been able to deliver the letter from Kublai Khan to the pope, since Teobaldo Visconti had been elected at the conclusion of the papal election that had been running from 1268 to 1271 – the longest papal election in the history of the Latin Church.

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When the three Polo’s finally returned to Venice, the city state was at war with neighbooring Genoa. Marco particpated in the war and was eventually imprisoned, spending his time in jail dictating travel stories to a cellmate. After being released from prison in 1299, Marco Polo went back to being a merchant and ammassed considerable wealth. He also married and had three children. He is buried in the San Lorenzo church in Venize.

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The Polos weren’t trailing in their own footsteps from the past, because instead of going the same way as last time, they made a wide swing to the north, into the southern Caucasus and Georgia, before heading for Tabriz, the Ilkhanid Mongol capital of Azerbaijan.

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Marco Polo later describes Tabriz as “a great city surrounded by beautiful and pleasant gardens. It is excellently situated so the goods brought to here come from many regions. Latin merchants specially Genevis go there to buy the goods that come from foreign lands.” At this point in history, Tabriz was an important commercial, cultural and political centre, filled with mangiciant buildings and powerful institutions

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The war between Venice and Genoa came to an end in the summer of 1299 and prisoners of war were released – including Marco Polo. He returned to Venice, where he married a woman named Donata Badoer and had three daughters with her.

Marco Polo did not travel far ever again; he mostly remained in Venice until his death in 1324.

Allegedly, one of the last things he said on his deathbed was “I have only told the half of what I saw!”.

Marco Polo’s last will and testament show us that he was rich enough to bequet substantial amounts of money to his wife and daughters. We can also see that he had a servant called Peter, who came from the Mongols and must have been some sort of slave since Polo’s will includes an order about setting Peter free.