Of Kin + (S)ilk
Updated: 3 days ago
Speaking of roots and the unexpected…
...that errand I had to run was to get my laptop repaired.
When I googled mac repair shops in Croatia, one particular one caught my eye… De Pol Trade!
Theirs is the first time I have come across anybody with the exact same surname, spelt the exact same way!!
Croatia was under Venetian rule for more than 400 years so it makes sense I guess.
When eventually I made it to the open shop, I met a long distance relative. We weren’t able to trace our connection back through our family tree (mainly due to lack of enough knowledge on both sides) but I think you can tell we belong to the same family…
One thing we both knew independently of each other was that both our family lineages trace all the way back to… Marco Polo! No wonder my wanderlust is so strong!!
So, when in my research I read that Korčula Old Town has a Marco Polo museum because allegedly he was born there, I knew I had to visit it.
I had been in Venice for my 30th birthday and had visited Marco Polo’s house there but I never knew it was disputed where he was born. Most books and articles will tell you he was born in the Venetian kingdom in 1254, though many also say “born in Venice”, but I guess that could also have been the Venetian Kingdom.
True or not, I wanted to see the place for myself to find out the background to this claim.
Turns out two things Korčula islanders primarily use as evidence to support their claim have been verified as true:
Marco Polo was captured near Korčula and spent time in the island’s prison during a battle between the Venetian and Genoese navy
Island records show the “Depolo” family name (a variation of “Polo” surname) existing in the island in various forms since the 13th century: Polo, Paulovich (Pavlovich), De Polo, Di Polo, and Depolo. Depolo at its origin is a Dalmatian name.
After visiting the house I’m not sure that Marco was born in Korčula though I can see that without there being clear evidence of where he was born it’s not possible to fully deny he wasn’t born there... clever marketing ploy from the islanders!
Of one thing I am sure: I think we belong to the same family… again, I think you can tell so!
I will hopefully one day be able to follow his steps around the Old Silk Road and see what he saw…
In the meantime, I will soon be heading over to retrace the steps of another family tree branch in the Lucanian Dolomites… keep an eye out for that blog!
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