Marco Polo (born c. 1254, Venice [Italy] – died January 8, 1324, Venice) a Venetian merchant and adventurer who travelled from Europe to Asia in 1271–95, remaining in China for 17 of those years, and whose Il milione (“The Million”), known in English as the Travels of Marco Polo, is a classic of travel literature. He was one of the first westerners to visit China.
Marco Polo depicted in a mosaic, carrying a chart and a copy of his celebrated travels ‘Il Milione’, late 19th century – early 20th century. Credit: Pictures from History/Universal Images Group 
Marco Polo in the presence of Kublai Khan (Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and the first Chinese emperor of the Yuan Dynasty). Credit: Prisma/Universal Images Group 
Marco Polo and his uncles present oil from Jerusalem and a message from the Pope to the Great Khan (detail). Credit: Pictures from History/Universal Images Group 
Marco Polo illustrated Frontispiece of the first edition of the’Milione’di Marco Polo with a its portrait to entire figure, Nuremberg 1477. Credit: Fototeca Gilardi/Universal Images Group 
Marco Polo and his uncles deliver a letter from Pope Gregory to the Great Khan. Credit: Pictures from History/Universal Images Group 
Marco Polo and his uncles deliver a letter from Pope Gregory to the Great Khan. Credit: Pictures from History/Universal Images Group 
The Travels of Marco Polo: the Bulls from Persia 1410-1412 Miniature from the ‘Livre des merveilles du monde’. Credit: Photo12/Universal Images Group 
Marco Polo sailing from Venice in 1271. Detail from a 15th century illuminated manuscript. Credit: Pictures from History/Universal Images Group
Marco Polo was born in around 1254 into a wealthy and cosmopolitan Venetian merchant family. Polo’s father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo Polo, were jewel merchants. In 1260, they left Venice to travel to the Black Sea, moving onwards to central Asia and joining a diplomatic mission to the court of Kublai Khan, the Mongol ruler of China. Khan asked the Polo brothers to return to Europe and persuade the pope to send scholars to explain Christianity to him. They arrived back in Venice in 1269.
In 1271, they set off again, accompanied by two missionaries and Marco, and in 1275 reached Khan’s summer court. For the next 17 years the Polos lived in the emperor’s lands.
After years spent living in Asia and travelling to many parts of it, the Polos eventually departed for Europe and reached Venice in 1295. Marco became involved in a naval conflict between Venice and Genoa and in 1298 was captured by the Genoese. In prison, his stories attracted the attention of a writer from Pisa, Rustichello, who began to write them down, frequently embellishing them as he went. The resulting book was extremely popular and was translated into many languages under a number of titles, including ‘The Million’ and the ‘Travels of Marco Polo’. Marco Polo spent the remainder of his life in Venice.
Map of voyages of Marco Polo during thirteenth century. Credit: Encyclopaedia Britannica/Universal Images Group 
China: A bridge and small waterfall in the Pan Men Gate park, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. Suzhou, the city of canals and gardens, was called the ‘Venice of the East’ by Marco Polo. Credit: Pictures From History/Universal Images Group 
Suzhou, the city of canals and gardens, was called the ‘Venice of the East’ by Marco Polo. Credit: Pictures from History/Universal Images Group 
China: Marco Polo statue, Zhangye, Gansu Province. Credit: Pictures from History/Universal Images Group
In the centuries since his death, Polo has received the recognition that failed to come his way during his lifetime. So much of what he claimed to have seen has been verified by researchers, academics and other explorers. Even if his accounts came from other travellers he met along the way, Polo’s story has inspired countless other adventurers to set off and see the world. Two centuries after Polo’s passing, Christopher Columbus set off across the Atlantic in hopes of finding a new route to the Orient. With him was a copy of Polo’s book.
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Sources:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/polo_marco.shtml