Great Moments in History: c.1275 - Marco Polo at Kublai Khan's Summer Palace (in Shangdu)

Hi everybody,

I would like to present to the Lego Ideas Community the fourth project of my "Great Moments in History" series:

c.1275 - Marco Polo at Kublai Khan's Summer Palace (in Shangdu).

Between 1271 and 1295 (i.e., during 24 years), Marco Polo accompanied his father, Niccolò Polo, and uncle, Maffeo Polo, on a trip that would lead them to Beijing and to the Court of Kublai Khan, the mongol ruler and founder of the Yuan dinasty. Nicollò and Maffeo had already been at the presence of Kublai Khan in 1266 to whom they had promised, among other things, to carry a letter to the Pope in Rome and to bring back oil of the lamp from Jerusalem. Therefore, in 1271, at the age of 17, Marco embarked on his father and uncle's quest to fulfill Kublai Khan's wishes. They sailed to Acre, rode camels to Hormuz and followed the Silk Road. They arrived at the Summer Palace of Kublai Khan in Shangdu (near Beijing) circa 1275.

The proposed project consists of a medium-sized vignette with 16x16 studs and 572 pieces (minifigures included). It shows the three members of the Polo family at Kublai Khan's Court, with Marco, at the center, offering the ruler the oil of the lamp from Jerusalem. The back of the vignette shows a map with the route followed by the three members of the Polo family.

Hope you find this project interesting and consider voting and sharing it. After all, it would be a nice opportunity to have a small piece of history on your desk.

Thank you for looking

PS - You can find the first three projects of this series:

Great Moments in History: 1776 - The Declaration of Independence of the United States;

Great Moments in History: 1494 - The Signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas

Great Moments in History: 936-1558 - The Coronation of German Kings at Charlemagne's Throne (in Aachen)

at these links (respectively):

link: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/121898

link: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/122026

link: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/122626

More will follow!

PPS - Just for information, the set was constructed using "LDD 4.3". Ray-traced images were produced using "LDD to POV-Ray Converter", version 1.2.11.42814 and "POV-Ray v3.7".