Marco Polo Facts For Kids

Marco Polo is one of the most famous travelers in history. He is a merchant from Venice who was born around 1254 and lived until 1324. When you hear about faraway places in the old days, many stories come from him. As a teenager he walked and sailed along the Silk Road, a chain of trade routes that connected Europe to Asia, and he spent many years in the lands of the Mongol Empire.

He wrote down his journeys in The Travels of Marco Polo, a book that showed Europeans what China and other far places were like. He also worked for the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan, and his stories told people about new things such as porcelain, paper money, and animals they had not seen before.

Marco Polo became ill in 1323 and by early January 1324 he was too weak to travel. On 8 January 1324 he made his will while family and a priest were with him. He chose his wife Donata and their three daughters to be co-executrices, so they would manage his belongings together. He left money to the convent of San Lorenzo because he wanted to be buried there, and he freed a Tartar servant named Peter and gave him some money. He divided what he owned among people, churches, and guilds and wrote off a few debts. The will was approved by the Venetian custom called signum manus, where people touched the document instead of signing. Records disagree about the exact day he died—either 8 or 9 January 1324, and some lists even say June.

Marco grows up in a busy port city and learns the ways of trade. He is born in Venice about 1254 and spends his childhood there while his father, Niccolò Polo, travels away as a merchant. Because his father is gone, Marco is raised by relatives and learns how to buy and sell goods, handle money, and speak with travelers. He does not learn much Latin, the old written language many scholars used.

When Marco is a young man, his father and uncle come home in 1269. Niccolò later marries, and together the family prepares for the long trip east that will change Marco’s life.

Historians still discuss how much Marco Polo saw himself and how much was told to him. Critics point to missing items—like his little use of the Great Wall—and to place names that are hard to match. But scholars note the most famous wall sections were built later, and other travelers also did not describe the wall. Many of Polo’s details about money, salt production, taxes, and certain buildings match Chinese records and archaeological finds, which supports his direct experience. Some researchers say Rustichello or later copyists added tales, while others (such as Haw, Vogel, and Elvin) argue the book is broadly authentic. Whatever the debate, Polo’s book changed European ideas about Asia and inspired explorers like Christopher Columbus. Which part of Asia in Polo’s book would you want to learn more about?

The book that tells Polo’s story is called The Travels of Marco Polo (Italian: Il Milione). While Marco was in prison, he spoke about his journeys and a writer named Rustichello da Pisa wrote them down, sometimes adding other tales. The book describes cities, rulers, markets, and how people lived across Asia, including the Mongol Empire and Yuan China. For many Europeans it was the first detailed picture of places like China and India, and it named things such as porcelain, gunpowder, and paper money. Some readers thought it sounded like a fairy tale, and different manuscripts changed details, so people both believed and doubted the stories.

After about 24 years away, Marco and his family return to Venice in 1295, bringing back wealth in gems and stories of far lands. Venice is at war with a rival city, and soon afterwards Marco’s ship is captured by enemies in 1296. He spends time in prison, and there he tells his travel tales to a writer named Rustichello da Pisa.

Those stories become the book people call Il Milione. Marco is freed in 1299 and goes back to Venice, where he marries in 1300 and runs trading business. He probably never returns to Asia, but his book helps many people in Europe learn about the wide world. What would you ask him about his long journeys?

At 17, Marco leaves with his father and uncle to follow trade routes east. Their trip begins in 1271 and takes them by sea and over land through busy markets and desert paths. After about three and a half years they reach the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan at his summer palace in Shangdu, far in the east.

Kublai Khan is interested in foreign visitors and asks Marco to stay. Marco becomes a trusted messenger and travels across parts of Asia—visiting places like India and islands in Southeast Asia—on missions for the Khan. He lives in China for many years and learns several languages while seeing how the empire runs.