Some 700 years after Polo's death, a major exhibition about the man and his legacy opened on May 8 in the city he so admired.

Titled Viaggio Di Conoscenze: "Il Milione" Di Marco Polo E La Sua Eredita Fra Oriente E Occidente or A Journey of Knowledge: The Travels of Marco Polo and Its Legacy Between East and West, the exhibition includes 84 rare artifacts from between the 13th and 20th centuries, on loan from 11 Italian museums and cultural institutions, including manuscripts, oil paintings, sculptures, jewelry, ceramics, glassware and textiles.

"Not by chance, the exhibition is being held in Hangzhou, a city symbolically close to Italy, as already captured in the accounts of the great Venetian traveler," said Massimo Ambrosetti, the Italian ambassador to China, at the opening ceremony.