Marco Polo at the court of Kubilai Kahn 

Marco Polo

A Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road

between 1271 and 1295.

Marco Polo was not the first European to ever travel to China, but he was one of the most influential.

• In the mid 1200s he traveled throughout the Mongol empire and recording what he saw.

• When he returned to Venice he wrote his epic, The Travels, which was widely read throughout Europe.

Questioning Marco Polo: Did His Legendary Voyage to China Really Happen?

The Silk Routes

• Secrets of the Silk Road from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

• American Museum of Natural History Silk Road Exhibit

• Informative article on the Silk Road from a Chinese Historian.

The Mongol Empire

• Article about the Mongol Empire