The Secret File of Marco Polo

In the year 1298, Marco Polo departed Venice for the Far East with his father and uncle. For the next 24 years, he would journey throughout Asia, crossing deserts and scaling mountains to bring back firsthand accounts of life in China, Japan, and India. Upon his return home in 1294, Polo found himself a celebrity. His travels had been so vast and varied that no one could believe they were true except for Marco Polo himself.

Now, 700 years after Polo’s death, a new discovery has lent credence to his stories. In 2006, an Italian team discovered a secret file kept by the Polos while they were in China. The file contained detailed notes on everything from Chinese culture to the price of goods in various markets.