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Born in Venice, Italy the 15th of September 1245.

Died in Venice, Italy the 8th of January 1324.

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One of the most well known Europeans to travel the Silk Road in Medieval times.

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Marco Polo was born in 1254. His family were Ventians, but it is unclear if he was actually born in Venice or if the birth took place on the island of Curzola off the Dalmatian coast, where his father and uncle had established a trading post.

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

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Eventually, a Mongol ambassador arrived to Bukhara, asking the brothers to go to the Hulagu Khan who was interested in meeting the exotic foreigners. Consequently, the brothers started travelling even further to the east, via Samarkand and then through the dangerous Gobi desert. Kublai Khan, fifth Khagan of the Mongol Empire and the would-be founder of China’s Yuan dynasty, was happy to see the foreigners and greeted them with great hospitality.

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The entire journey took about four years. The journey from China to Persia was the most dangerous of their journey. Only 18 people of the original 600 survived. After arriving in Persia they took off overland for Europe. During their trip across Iran they were robbed of some of their gold and jewels.

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In 1271, the Polo brothers embarked on a new journey, and this time the took Marco with them.

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When the Kublai Khan was in his late 70s, the Polo family began to worry about what would happen to them when he died. The Polos had amassed great amounts of gold and jewelry, but would they be able to take it out of China without the protection of the Khan? At the same time, the Khan really enjoyed their company and was reluctant to let them go.

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The Polos returned to Venice in 1295 after 24 years of travel and living in China. According to a story that first appeared in the 1500s, the Polo family had long given them up for dead. When they appeared no one recognized them and they gave off "a certain indescribable smack of the Tartar both in air and scent.