Marco Polo’s famous travelogue was penned in prison

One of the interesting facts about Marco Polo you may not know, Marco Polo's famous travelogue was penned in prison.

Although many people are familiar with Marco Polo, few are aware that The Travels of Marco Polo, his celebrated literary masterpiece, was not only written while he was imprisoned but also by someone else. When Marco Polo's account of his exploits in the Far East was first published, around 1300, it quickly rose to fame and inspired a new generation of explorers, including Christopher Columbus, who kept an annotated copy of it among his personal effects.

The 24-year journey Marco Polo took with his father, Niccol, and uncle, Maffeo Polo, was chronicled in the bestselling biography, autobiography, and travelogue. Marco Polo, who came from a family of intrepid merchants, left Venice at the age of 17 and didn't come back until he was 41. Between 1271 and 1295, he traveled through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, and China. Even for 17 years, Marco Polo worked at the court of Mongolian emperor Kublai Khan.

At a time when few Christians had ever traveled into the Far East, let alone to China, Marco Polo's travels provided a wealth of useful information for merchants. In fact, according to National Geographic, "the depth of knowledge Marco Polo provided on China and its neighboring lands was unprecedented in its time."