Marco Polo
Venetian merchant who travelled the Silk Road to Yuan China and spent some seventeen years under Kublai Khan; his book introduced Asia to Europe.
| Lived | 1254 – 1324 |
| Known as | Merchant and traveller |
| Birthplace or main place | Venice |
| Places on the map | Venice, Beijing, Quanzhou, Genoa |
VeniceSee the world of Marco Polo in the interactive map
Who ruled these places in his lifetime
| Place | At birth (map of 1200) | At death (map of 1300) |
|---|---|---|
| Venice | Venice | same |
| Beijing | Jin Empire | Great Khanate |
| Quanzhou | Song Empire | Great Khanate |
| Genoa | Holy Roman Empire | same |
From the border maps nearest to each date; borders are approximate.
Events in his lifetime
| Year | Event | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1267 | Kublai Khan builds Dadu | Beijing |
| 1284 | Battle of Meloria: Genoa defeats Pisa | Genoa |
| 1292 | Marco Polo sails from Quanzhou on his journey home | Quanzhou |
| 1298 | Marco Polo, a prisoner in Genoa, dictates his travels | Genoa |
Further reading
Contemporaries
| Lived | Person | |
|---|---|---|
| c. 1267 – 1337 | Giotto | Painter and architect |
| 1265 – 1321 | Dante Alighieri | Poet |
| c. 1280 – 1337 | Mansa Musa | Emperor of Mali |
| 1215 – 1294 | Kublai Khan | Founder of the Yuan dynasty |
| c. 1210 – 1291 | Saadi | Poet |
| 1225 – 1274 | Thomas Aquinas | Theologian |
| 1304 – 1369 | Ibn Battuta | Traveller |
| 1304 – 1374 | Petrarch | Poet and humanist |
| 1207 – 1273 | Rumi | Poet and Sufi mystic |
Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.