Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Venetians take pride in the city's elegant and innovative architecture. In the much-ad-
mired, much-photographed Baroque church, Santa Maria della Salute, the massive domes
and the outward thrust of the walls are brought under aesthetic and structural control by
huge stone scrolls on the roof. Wealthy Venetians are remembered as patrons of painters.
Masterpieces by Titian, Tintoretto, and Carpaccio adorn churches and palaces. Venetians
were masters of industrial technology; warships in the arsenale were turned out quickly on
production lines. And in pursuit of profitable trade, Venetians, quite literally, traveled to the
ends of the earth.
MARCO POLO
Marco Polo, his father, and his uncle are exemplars of the far-traveling Venetians. They set
out from Venice in 1271, bound for the court of the Great Khan. Maffeo Polo and Nicolai
Polo had accomplished the journey before. Now, seventeen-year-old Marco traveled with
them. Their journey was made possible by Mongols from central Asia. Under their lead-
er, Genghis Kahn, they had swept across the Russian steppes in 1228 and had flown their
banners of conquest from the Sea of Japan to the borders of Poland, from Siberia to Persia,
becoming, as a consequence, the greatest land empire in history.
The Mongols were cruel conquerors but uninterested in religious disputation. Open,
safe roads and swift messengers kept the bonds of empire tightly laced. All travelers who
obeyed Mongol laws and paid tribute were welcome. The Polos traveled by ship to the
Black Sea, and from there they went over land across the ancient Silk Road toward the
Mongol capital of Beijing. They were three-and-a-half years on the road, almost dying in
the cold, arid mountains of Afghanistan.
The Great Khan, Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis, welcomed them, taking special
interest in twenty-year-old Marco. A keen observer and gifted with languages, Marco be-
came one of Kublai's diplomats, serving the Great Khan on missions across China. In 1292
the emperor entrusted Marco with an important mission: convey a Mongol princess to wed
the Khan's Persian vassal. Thus commanded, Marco set out on one of the defining voyages
of history. In nominal command of a flotilla of fourteen ships and 600 men, Marco recor-
ded the wonders of his journey. The ships were magnificent—Chinese ships of a size that
Europe could not match for at least 300 years, sails that folded like a giant fan instead of
being reefed and furled, and three Chinese maritime inventions that would revolutionize
European exploration: a compass to guide Marco's ships, watertight compartments, and a
stern rudder controlled by ropes and chains.
The route of the flotilla solved one of Europe's great maritime mysteries—how to
reach the Far East by sea. Simple, Marco reported. Sail south on the China Sea, traverse
the Strait of Malacca, cross the Indian Ocean, head north through the Red Sea, and proceed
over land to the Mediterranean. Reverse the route to travel from Europe to China. Marco
Search WWH ::




Custom Search