Marko Polo`s birthplace Korcula

There`s a house that belonged to Polo family at the heart of the Old Town of Korcula, which is believed to have been a birthplace of the prominent businessman, world traveler and writer Marco Polo. You`ll reach it if you turn north from the at the Cathedral of St. Marko. Polo was captured in 1298 in a naval battle between Genoa and Venice, which took place in front of Korcula island. Then he was taken to Genoa and thrown into prison. That was the place where he met Rustichelli, with whom he shared a dungeon, and told him all about his adventures which Rusticelli carefully have written down. These notes had grown into the book Il Milione, which was the third most translated and most widely read book after the Bible and the Koran for a long time. The book inspired even Christopher Columbus who had it with him on his travels to the New World and often had been comparing his notes with those of Marko Polo. His descriptions, written down by his prison companion, were very vivid, often too exaggerated. Allegedly, the name of the number 1,000,000 (million) is the legacy of Marco Polo. The number has rarely been used before under the name of thousands of thousands. Polo was telling about his experiences using huge figures and metrics, so his stories were recounted with the adjective " emilion " by his middle name. Thus, they say, the word "million" was born.
House of Marco Polo is open to visitors during the tourist season every day from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. with symbolic ticket prices. If you have rented an apartment, room or vacation house on Korcula, do not miss to visit the house with the tower and the birthplace of Marco Polo in Korcula, whose adventures have been inspiring generations for centuries.