Calicanto: Marco Polo’s Last Will
In early January, long after the trees have lost their leaves, you can spot two bursts of color in Venice: the odd orange kaki fruit hanging from a twig, and simple yellow blossoms in Venetian gardens. We call them calicanto shrubs, and to me they’re the symbol of these quiet winter days in Venice, between Epiphany and the start of Carnival season.
As we look out at our calicanto shrub in the garden, we're reminded that 2024 will be dedicated to the legendary Marco Polo. And that now in the midst of winter, when calicanto was blossoming, he died exactly 700 years ago. Exploring what we know about him makes me realize how little we truly understand about him, and Venice.
Despite being one of the most well-known Venetian personalities, so many questions haven’t been answered so far, like:
When did he die 700 years ago, on 8 or 9 January 1324?
Where did he live with his family after returning from his adventures - in the Corte del Milion or somewhere else in Venice?
Did he really travel all the way to see Alaska?
Did he bring back spices like turmeric and nutmeg to Venice?
Where is he buried, in the church of San Lorenzo in Venice?
Which stories did he not include in his book “Il Milione”?
And how should one interpret his last will?
Perhaps 2024 will shed a little more light on his life: So many questions about Marco Polo will be covered in the months to come through events, books, and documentaries, as Venice will dedicate the year to him.
During the Corona lockdown, we spent a lot of time researching. For example, we tried to find Nonna’s garden on Jacopo de Barbari's map (and we found it!). We also delved into Marco Polo's life, which is closely linked to where I grew up in Venice. It turns out this area around San Zaccaria is even more connected with him than I realized:
In the 14th century, the San Zaccaria convent was in the middle of a group of islands called the Ombriola archipelago. There were 12 islands, stretching from San Canciano to Campo Santa Maria Formosa and Campo della Bragora, all the way to the San Zaccaria area, covering most of the settled islands to the east of Piazza San Marco.
In his will, Marco Polo wanted to be buried at San Lorenzo church because his family owned property on Ombriola. San Lorenzo was built in 803 AD by the Partecipazio family, and this convent, just like San Severo, relied on San Zaccaria for religious activities.
So where would Marco Polo go to write his last will? He’d go towards San Zaccaria, but not to the convent itself but the church and piovan (parish) tresponsible to take care of the people living on Ombriola on behalf of San Zaccaria: The church and parish house at San Procolo (San Provolo, as it’s called today).
And then we know from this document that Marco Polo’s last will was written up a year before he died, in January 1323, at the house of the piovan (priest) on Campo San Provolo.
The priest's house is still standing next to the old San Provolo church, now a school called Liceo Marco Polo. A courtyard garden separates the church from the parish house, with raised terraces, pergolas, balconies, and roof-top terraces connected by wrought-iron staircases. This is the garden our Nonna Lina used to take care of.
In the 18th century, Napoleon’s soldiers closed the church of San Provolo. It became a warehouse and then a school. The small parish house, where Marco Polo wrote his will, became a guesthouse and remained the nuns’ home until 1968. Today, a small chapel in the building still reminds of the parish house.
Whenever I walk past this chapel, it makes me think about all the things we understand about Venice, and all the things we might never know.
If you want to learn more about Marco Polo's will, there's a helpful website in both Italian and English available here.