: Sadly, Marco’s mother passed away while he was quite young, leaving him to be raised by an aunt and uncle while his father was away on a decade-long expedition.

The most explosive piece of documentary evidence comes from a 15th-century source: the chronicle of a Venetian senator, Girolamo Andrea. In a list of Dalmatian nobles, he explicitly wrote: "The Poli are from Curzola." This single line is the cornerstone of the entire Korčula argument.

Whether he first drew breath in a Venetian palazzo or a stone house on the Adriatic coast, the year Marco Polo was born marked the start of an era of global connectivity. He wasn't just a traveler; he was a chronicler who brought back stories of paper money, coal, and postal systems—concepts that seemed like science fiction to his contemporaries.

The official biography, taught in most history books, is straightforward. Marco Polo was born into a wealthy Venetian merchant family in 1254. The exact house is unknown, but it would have been in the bustling heart of Venice, likely near the Rialto Bridge, the center of commerce.