On the 700th anniversary of Marco Polo, a special exhibition titled “Marco Polo, Qubilai Khan, and the Mongols” has opened on the 9th floor of the Chinggis Khaan National Museum. (2024.11.15)

This year marks the 700th anniversary of the passing of Marco Polo, the son of Venetian merchant Niccolò Polo, one of the great explorers who journeyed towards Asia and gained worldwide fame.

On this commemorative occasion, the Chinggis Khaan National Museum, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Sports, Tourism, and Youth of Mongolia, the Embassy of Italy in Mongolia, and Professor Elisabetta Ragagnin, a Mongolist scholar and Professor of Mongolian at Ca' Foscari University of Venice (UNIVE), is presenting a special exhibition on the life story of Marco Polo, now open for the public.

The great explorer Marco Polo was born in Venice, from where he traveled and served as a trusted foreign emissary to Qubilai Khan for 17 years (1272-1289). While working as an ambassador, Marco Polo wrote a book and notes about the life, customs, morals, and religion of the people in the many states of the Yuan dynasty. Today, his work serves as an important resource for scientific research in geography, history, anthropology, and ethnography.

The director of the Chinggis Khaan National Museum, S. Chuluun, opened the exhibition and delivered a speech, emphasizing that Marco Polo was a major role in spreading the history of the Mongols to the world, especially in Europe. Through him, people knew the nomadic people on the eastern side of the world. No one can dispute that this man's notes have become a major resource in promoting Mongolian history to the world. The exhibition aims to showcase the Mongol Empire and the Yuan Dynasty through the eyes and mind of a 13th century explorer. Reading the notes is one thing, but seeing what has been read with your own eyes and recalling and capturing your impressions is equally important. He pointed out that the organizers attempt to show how the weapons and items used during the time of Chinggis Khaan, as well as the way of nomadic life and traditions from that era, have been preserved to this day, as depicted in Marco Polo's writings and the present day Mongols.

The exhibition features over 100 exhibits, with the most valuable being a 1x1 map, drawn in the 14th century with the Yuan Dynasty at the center, which is kept in an Italian library. This map will continue to be preserved in the Chinggis Khaan National Museum. The special exhibition will be open in the 9th floor exhibition hall of the Chinggis Khaan National Museum from November 15, 2024, to January 15, 2025.

The opening of the exhibition was attended by Stefano Trovato, Director of the Marciana Library in Venice, Italy, Professor Elisabetta Ragagnin, the Italian Mongolist scholar, Giovanna Piccarreta, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Italy to Mongolia, and other officials.