Marco Polo is known as one of the greatest explorers to ever live. His impact on all of our lives is immense, such as the popular “Marco Polo” children’s game. Through the changes he impacted on the Eastern and Western world, two of the most notable are spreading cultures and sparking the Age of Exploration.
Since he traveled along the Silk Road, Marco Polo was able to not only bring elements of Western culture to the East, but Eastern culture back to the West. He brought back various Chinese innovations to Europe including paper money, coal, eyeglasses, and a postal service. Polo also used Eastern concepts and ideas to improve the Western map-making and cartography. Without introducing these inventions to the Western world, our world today may be less advanced and complex. From the West, he brought many concepts such as Christianity and many priests. Polo’s had a huge effect on spreading vital ideas and inventions throughout the world in the 1200s.
Furthermore, Marco Polo sparked the start of the Age of Exploration, which included people such as Christopher Columbus and Magellen. These people were curious in the adventures Polo went on to keep exploring the areas he found riches in. Columbus went as far as carrying Marco Polo’s book “The Travels of Marco Polo” with him at all times and attempting to explore the Eastern world described in his book.
Without Marco Polo’s journey to the East, the whole world, namely Europe, the Mongol Empire, and China would have undergone much different paths in history than they did in reality. The trade of culture, goods, and ideas between the East and West allowed the whole world to take a large step in becoming a more modern society. Marco Polo’s trek marked the start of an age of exploration and curiosity that allowed for large steps in advancement for the world.