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Sep 15, 1254
Marco Polo born in Venice, Italy
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Jan 1, 1259
Niccolò and Maffeo Polo leave Constantinople for the east
Niccolò and Maffeo Polo leave Constantinople and transfer their trading business to Soldaia, a city in Crimea controlled by the Mongol empire. Searching for better profits, the Polos move east to Bukhara (in modern-day Uzbekistan) where they trade for three years. -
Jan 1, 1264
The Polo brothers join an embassy sent by Hulagu Khan
The Polo brothers join an embassy sent by Hulagu Khan, ruler of the Ilkhanate empire in present-day Iran, Iraq and most of the former Soviet republics, to his brother Kublai Khan, ruler of the Mongol Empire in present-day Mongolia, North China and much of Western China. -
Jan 1, 1266
Polo brothers arrive at the court of Kublai Khan
The Polo brothers arrive at the court of Kublai Khan in Dadu (present-day Beijing) China. Kublai Khan sends the Polos back to Venice with a letter to the Pope, requesting 100 educated missionaries to teach Christianity and Western customs to his people, and oil from the lamp in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (the reputed resting place of Jesus Christ). The letter also includes a golden tablet that authorizes the Polos to receive food and lodging throughout Kublai Khan’s domain. -
Jan 1, 1271
Marco Polo's first voyage at age 17
Marco Polo accompanies his father and uncle on a journey through the Holy Land, Persia and Tartary and to the Empire of China -
Jan 1, 1274
Polo family arrives in a Chinese city
The Polos give the Pope’s gifts to Kublai Khan. The Polos spend the next seventeen years in China. Kublai Khan takes a liking to young Marco Polo, and dispatches him on diplomatic missions throughout the empire. Marco later claims that Kublai Khan made him the governor of the city of Yangzhou for three years. -
Period: Jan 1, 1291 to Jan 1, 1294
Kulbia Khan sends the Polos the escort a Mongol princess to Persia
Kublai Khan sends the Polos to escort a Mongol princess to her betrothed in the Ilkhanate in Persia. The Polos travel by sea from the Chinese port city of Quanzhou to Sumatra, Sri Lanka, India and finally to Persia. -
Jan 1, 1295
Polos return to Venice
The Polos return to Venice and tell their stories of the East to doubting Venetians. -
Jan 1, 1298
Marco Polo captured and imprisoned
Marco Polo is captured during a civil war between Venice and Genoa. During his imprisonment, he dictates a detailed account of his travels to a fellow prisoner. The resulting book (known alternately as “Il Milione,” “The Description of the World” or “The Travels of Marco Polo”) becomes a huge success in Europe, 200 years before the invention of the printing press. -
Jan 1, 1298
Polos return to Venice
The Polos return to Venice and tell their stories of the East to doubting Venetians. -
Jan 1, 1300
Marco Polo released from prison
Marco Polo is released from prison, marries, and has three children. He never leaves Venice again. -
Jan 15, 1324
Death of Marco Polo
Marco Polo dies in Venice at age 69.
