Editing Marco Polo (section)

== Legacy ==

=== Further exploration ===
{{See also|Age of Discovery|Europeans in Medieval China|Chronology of European exploration of Asia|Jorge Álvares|Rafael Perestrello}}
[[File:ColombusNotesToMarcoPolo.jpg|thumb|Handwritten notes by [[Christopher Columbus]] on a Latin edition of Polo's book]]
[[File:FraMauroDetailedMapInverted.jpg|thumb|The [[Fra Mauro map]], published {{circa|1450}} by the Venetian monk [[Fra Mauro]]]]
Other lesser-known European explorers had already travelled to China, such as [[Giovanni da Pian del Carpine]], but Polo's book meant that his journey was the first to be widely known. [[Christopher Columbus]] was inspired enough by Polo's description of the Far East to want to visit those lands for himself; a copy of the book was among his belongings, with handwritten annotations.<ref name="Landström 1967 27" /> [[Bento de Góis]], inspired by Polo's writings of a Christian kingdom in the east, travelled {{convert|4000|mi|km}} in three years across Central Asia. He never found the kingdom but ended his travels at the [[Great Wall of China]] in 1605, proving that Cathay was what [[Matteo Ricci]] (1552–1610) called "China".<ref>{{Harvnb|Winchester|2008|p=264}}</ref>

=== Cartography ===
Marco Polo's travels may have had some influence on the development of European [[cartography]], ultimately leading to the [[Age of Discovery|European voyages of exploration]] a century later.<ref name="Falchetta">{{Harvnb|Falchetta|2006|p=592}}</ref> The 1453 [[Fra Mauro map]] was said by [[Giovanni Battista Ramusio]] (disputed by historian/cartographer Piero Falchetta, in whose work the quote appears) to have been partially based on the one brought from [[Cathay]] by Marco Polo: {{Blockquote|That fine illuminated world map on parchment, which can still be seen in a large cabinet alongside the choir of their monastery [the Camaldolese monastery of San Michele di Murano] was by one of the brothers of the monastery, who took great delight in the study of cosmography, diligently drawn and copied from a most beautiful and very old nautical map and a world map that had been brought from Cathay by the most honourable Messer Marco Polo and his father.|[[Giovanni Battista Ramusio]]<ref name="Falchetta" />|title=|source=}}

Though Marco Polo never produced a map that illustrated his journey, his family drew several maps of the Far East based on the traveller's accounts. These collections of maps were signed by Polo's three daughters, Fantina, Bellela and Moreta.<ref name="History3">{{cite web |url=http://www.history.com/news/did-marco-polo-visit-alaska|title=Did Marco Polo Visit Alaska? |last=Klein|first=Christopher|publisher=History |date=30 September 2014 }}</ref> The authenticity of these maps is uncertain. Benjamin B. Olshin a historian who wrote for the [[University of Chicago Press]] has been unable to "establish the authenticity" of these maps once owned by Marcian Rossi, an Italian immigrant living in California during the 1930s known for peddaling [[Hoax|hoaxes]]. These maps have been compared to the [[Voyage of the Zeno brothers|Zeno Map]] hoax. However Olshin made no mention on the improbability they are real.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Did Marco Polo Explore Alaska? A Review of Benjamin B. Olshin's "The Mysteries of the Marco Polo Maps" (2014) |url=https://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/did-marco-polo-explore-alaska-a-review-of-benjamin-b-olshins-the-mysteries-of-marco-polos-maps-2014 |access-date=2024-10-20 |website=JASON COLAVITO |language=en}}</ref> According to the [[United Kingdom|U.K]]. [[news]] outlet [[The Telegraph (London)|The Telegraph]], a [[Carbon-14|radiocarbon]] study of the sheepskin the maps are made of date back to the 15th or 16th century strongly suggesting they are copies of the original maps.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-09-26 |title=Did Marco Polo discover America in 13th century? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11124102/Did-Marco-Polo-discover-America-in-13th-century.html#:~:text=According%20to%20Smithsonian%20magazine,%20a,middle%20of%20the%2013th%20century. |access-date=2024-10-20 |website=The Telegraph |language=en}}</ref> 

=== Pasta myth ===
There is a legend about Marco Polo importing [[pasta]] from China; however, it is actually a [[List of common misconceptions|popular misconception]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilovepasta.org/faqs.html|title=National Pasta Association |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320211605/http://www.ilovepasta.org/faqs.html |archive-date=20 March 2012|url-status=dead}} article ''FAQs'' section "Who "invented" pasta?"; "The story that it was Marco Polo who imported noodles to Italy and thereby gave birth to the country's pasta culture is the most pervasive myth in the history of Italian food." (Dickie 2008, p. 48).</ref> originating with the ''Macaroni Journal'', published by a food industry association with the goal of promoting the use of pasta in the United States.<ref>S. Serventi, F. Sabban ''La pasta. Storia e cultura di un cibo universale'', VII. Economica Laterza 2004</ref> Marco Polo describes in his book a food similar to "[[lasagna]]", but he uses a term with which he was already familiar. Pasta had already been invented in Italy a long time before Marco Polo's travels to Asia.<ref name="Serventi 2002 10">{{cite book |title=Pasta: The Story of a Universal Food |last1=Serventi |first1=Silvano |date=2002 |publisher=Columbia University Press |translator-first=Antony |translator-last=Shugaar |isbn=978-0-231-12442-3 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/pastastoryofuniv00silv/page/10 10] |first2=Françoise |last2=Sabban |url=https://archive.org/details/pastastoryofuniv00silv/page/10 }}</ref> According to the newsletter of the [[National Pasta Association|National Macaroni Manufacturers Association]]<ref name="Serventi 2002 10" /> and food writer [[Jeffrey Steingarten]],<ref name=Steingarten>{{cite book|author=Jeffrey Steingarten|title=The Man Who Ate Everything|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T33d0IIwwaQC|year=1998|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-375-70202-0|page=260}}</ref> the [[durum wheat]] was introduced by Arabs from Libya, [[Emirate of Sicily|during their rule]] over [[Sicily]] in the late 9th century, thus predating Marco Polo's travels by about four centuries.<ref name=Steingarten /> Steingarten also mentioned that [[Jane Grigson]] believed the Marco Polo story to have originated in the 1920s or 30s in an advertisement for a Canadian spaghetti company.<ref name=Steingarten />

=== Commemoration ===
[[File:Lire 1000 (Marco Polo) - Front.jpg|thumb|Italian banknote issued in 1982, portraying Marco Polo]]
The ''[[Marco Polo sheep]]'', a subspecies of ''[[argali|Ovis ammon]]'', is named after the explorer,<ref>{{Harvnb|Bergreen|2007|p=74}}</ref> who described it during his crossing of [[Pamir Mountains|Pamir]] (ancient [[Mount Imeon]]) in 1271.{{refn|group="nb"|{{Harvnb|Yule|Cordier|1923|loc=ch.18}} states, "Then there are sheep here as big as asses; and their tails are so large and fat, that one tail shall weigh some 30&nbsp;lb. They are fine fat beasts, and afford capital mutton."}}

In 1851, a three-masted [[clipper]] built in Saint John, New Brunswick also took his name; the ''[[Marco Polo (1851 ship)|''Marco Polo'']]'' was the first ship to sail around the world in under six months.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lubbock|2008|p=86}}</ref>

The airport in [[Venice]] is named ''[[Venice Marco Polo Airport]]''.<ref>{{citation|last=Brennan |first=D. |title=Lost in Venice |publisher=WalesOnline |date=1 February 2009 |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/travel/travel-news/2009/02/01/lost-in-venice-91466-22826493/ |access-date=15 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090830062732/http://www.walesonline.co.uk/travel/travel-news/2009/02/01/lost-in-venice-91466-22826493/ |archive-date=30 August 2009 }}</ref>

The [[Frequent-flyer program|frequent flyer programme]] of Hong Kong [[flag carrier]] [[Cathay Pacific]] is known as the "''Marco Polo Club''".<ref>{{Citation|url=http://www.cathayforbusiness.com/freqfly/marcopoloclub.asp|title=The Marco Polo Club|publisher=[[Cathay Pacific]] Airways Limited|author=Cathay Pacific Airways|access-date=13 July 2009|year=2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120825165330/http://www.cathayforbusiness.com/freqfly/marcopoloclub.asp|archive-date=25 August 2012|url-status=usurped}}</ref>

Croatian [[state-owned]] [[shipping company]]'s ([[Jadrolinija]]) ship connecting [[Split, Croatia|Split]] with [[Ancona]] in Italy is named after Marco Polo.<ref name="Jadrolinija">{{cite web|url=https://www.jadrolinija.hr/en/about-us/ships/ferries/ferries-for-coastal-and-international-shipping/marko-polo |title=  Marko Polo |publisher=[[Jadrolinija]] |access-date=2 June 2020}}</ref>

=== Arts, entertainment, and media ===

==== Film ====
* ''[[The Adventures of Marco Polo]]'' (1938), directed by [[Archie Mayo]]
* ''[[Marco Polo (1961 film)|Marco Polo]]'' (1961)
* ''[[Marco the Magnificent]]'' (1965)
* ''[[Marco (1973 film)|Marco]]'' (1973), directed by [[Seymour Robbie]]
* ''Marco Polo'' (馬哥波羅) (1975), directed by [[Chang Cheh]]
*''[[Marco Polo Junior Versus the Red Dragon]]'' (1972), Australian animated film by [[Eric Porter (filmmaker)|Eric Porter]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-the-red-red-dragon-aka-marco-polo-jr-aka-marco-polo-junior-versus-72391157.html|title=Stock Photo – THE RED RED DRAGON, (aka MARCO POLO JR., aka MARCO POLO JUNIOR VERSUS THE RED DRAGON), US poster, 1972|website=Alamy|language=en|access-date=29 January 2020}}</ref>

==== Games ====
* The game "[[Marco Polo (game)|Marco Polo]]" is a form of [[Tag (game)|tag]] played in a [[swimming pool]]<ref name=play>{{cite book |last=Bittarello |first=Maria Beatrice |title=Encyclopedia of Play in Today's Society |editor=Rodney P. Carlisle |publisher=SAGE |date=2009|chapter=Marco Polo |isbn=978-1-4129-6670-2 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7DiB3z2fBpAC&pg=PT416}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Jeffrey |first=Phillip |author2=Mike Blackstock |author3=Matthias Finke |author4=Anthony Tang |author5=Rodger Lea |author6=Meghan Deutscher |author7=Kento Miyaoku  |title=Chasing the Fugitive on Campus: Designing a Location-based Game for Collaborative Play |journal=Proceedings of CGSA 2006 Symposium |url=http://journals.sfu.ca/loading/index.php/loading/article/viewFile/12/15}}</ref> or on land, with slightly modified rules.
* Polo appears as a Great Explorer in the strategy video game ''[[Civilization Revolution]]'' (2008).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.civfanatics.com/civrev/great_people |title=Civilization Revolution: Great People |website=CivFanatics |access-date=4 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110317031836/http://www.civfanatics.com/civrev/great_people |archive-date=17 March 2011 }}</ref>
* Marco Polo's 1292 voyage from [[China]] is used as a backdrop for the plot of ''[[Uncharted 2: Among Thieves]]'' (2009), where [[Nathan Drake (character)|Nathan Drake]] (the protagonist) searches for the [[Cintamani]] Stone, which was from the fabled city of [[Shambhala]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.naughtydog.com/games/uncharted2_among_thieves|title=Uncharted 2: Among Thieves|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906110334/http://www.naughtydog.com/games/uncharted2_among_thieves/|archive-date=6 September 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* A board game 'The Voyages of Marco Polo' plays over a map of Eurasia, with multiple routes to 'recreate' Polo's journey.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.zmangames.com/en/products/voyages-marco-polo/ |title=The Voyages of Marco Polo |access-date=17 November 2018 |archive-date=17 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117151302/https://www.zmangames.com/en/products/voyages-marco-polo/ |url-status=dead }} [[Z-Man Games]]</ref>

==== Literature ====
The travels of Marco Polo are fictionalised in a number of works, such as:
* [[Brian Oswald Donn-Byrne]]'s ''Messer Marco Polo'' (1921)<ref>{{cite book| title=Messer Marco Polo| date=1921| author=Donn-Byrne, Brian Oswald| url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1605413.Messer_Marco_Polo}}</ref>
* [[Italo Calvino]]'s novel ''[[Invisible Cities]]'' (1972), in which Polo appears as a pivotal character.
* [[Gary Jennings (author)|Gary Jennings]]' novel ''[[The Journeyer]]'' (1984)
* [[Avram Davidson]]'s novel (written with [[Grania Davis]]) ''[[Marco Polo and the Sleeping Beauty]]'' (1988), a serio-comic fantasy with Polo as the protagonist.
* [[James Rollins]]' [[James Rollins#SIGMA Force Book 4: The Judas Strain (2007)|SIGMA Force Book 4: ''The Judas Strain'']] (2007), in which facts about Polo's travels and conjecture about secrets he kept are interleaved with modern-day action.

==== Television ====
* In the 1953 television series ''[[You Are There (series)|You Are There]]'', Polo was portrayed by [[John Cassavetes]] in the episode "The Great Adventure of Marco Polo".
* In the 1964 serial ''[[Marco Polo (Doctor Who)|Marco Polo]]'' of the television series ''[[Doctor Who]]'', Polo was portrayed by [[Mark Eden]].
* The television miniseries, ''[[Marco Polo (1982 TV series)|Marco Polo]]'' (1982), featuring [[Ken Marshall]], [[Burt Lancaster]] and [[Ruocheng Ying]], and directed by [[Giuliano Montaldo]], depicts Polo's travels. It won two [[Emmy Award]]s, and was nominated for six more.<ref name=Emmy>{{Citation|title=Academy of Television Arts & Sciences |url=http://www.emmys.org/awards/awardsearch.php |access-date=6 July 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080330160256/http://www.emmys.org/awards/awardsearch.php |archive-date=30 March 2008 }} (Searching for "Marco Polo", and year 1982)</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083446/ |website=IMDb TV miniseries|title= Marco Polo |date= 1982}}</ref>
* The television film, ''[[Marco Polo (2007 film)|Marco Polo]]'' (2007), starring [[Brian Dennehy]] as Kublai Khan, and [[Ian Somerhalder]] as Marco, portrays Marco Polo being left alone in China while his uncle and father return to Venice, to be reunited with him many years later.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0813789/ |website=IMDb TV miniseries|title= Marco Polo |date=2007}}</ref>
* ''[[In the Footsteps of Marco Polo]]'' (2009) is a [[PBS]] documentary about two friends ([[Denis Belliveau]] and Francis O'Donnell) who conceived of the ultimate road trip to retrace Marco Polo's journey from Venice to China via land and sea.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.wliw.org/marcopolo|work=WLIW.org|title=In the footsteps of Marco Polo (PBS)|date=2009|access-date=26 February 2010|archive-date=2 September 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100902072531/http://www.wliw.org/marcopolo/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* ''[[In Search of Marco Polo]]'' (2013), a Croatian documentary miniseries written and directed by Miro Branković.
* ''[[Marco Polo (2014 TV series)|Marco Polo]]'' (2014–2016) is a [[Netflix]] television drama series about Marco Polo's early years in the court of [[Kublai Khan]] created by [[John Fusco]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Netflix's 'Marco Polo' Sets December Premiere Date |url=https://deadline.com/2014/08/netflixs-marco-polo-sets-december-premiere-date-826156/ |access-date=28 August 2014 |work=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |date=28 August 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/marco-polo-canceled-at-netflix-two-seasons-955561 |title='Marco Polo' Canceled at Netflix After Two Seasons |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |access-date=13 December 2016 |date=12 December 2016 |last=Goldberg |first=Lesley}}</ref>