Marco Polo returns to Venice

1295

After twenty-four years abroad, the Polos staggered back into Venice in travel-worn Tartar robes. Legend holds that they sewed gemstones into the lining of their clothes and amazed their relatives by cutting the seams open. Within three years Marco would dictate his book from a Genoese prison. His account of paper money, coal, and asbestos struck European readers as so fantastic that many refused to believe him.