Original subtitles

(adventurous music)

As a reporter, I've traveled around the Middle East

for many years.

It's an area that has always fascinated me.

But in my work, I've mainly covered its war zones,

its crises, and its tragedies.

This journey, which takes me down the Silk Road

in the footsteps of Marco Polo, gives me

the opportunity to explore the great historical

and cultural significance of this part of the world,

its ancient melting pot of peoples and civilizations

that have contributed so much to our own.

(adventurous music)

(exotic string music)

(foreign language)

The name "the Silk Road" was invented in the 19th century

to describe the network of economic

as well as intellectual exchanges

that went on between the East and the West.

We know where it ends, in Xi'an

the former capital of the Chinese empire.

But where should it start from?

From Byzantium?

From Antioch?

Jerusalem, perhaps?

Or why not from here?

From Venice, the European gateway to the Orient

and the point of departure for the most famous traveler

to have ever hit this road and its 16,000 kilometers:

Marco Polo.

Venice seems to hover between the see and the sky.

The floating city, La Serenissima owed its splendor

to its trading activities with the Levant.

It was indeed an outpost of the East

on the European continent.

St. Mark's Basilica is a symbol

of this interconnection between the East and West.

It was built to house the relics of Mark the Evangelist

after his remains were brought here from Egypt.

On its facade, the lion is an attribute of the saint

and an emblem of the city.

(solemn choral music)

The mosaics that decorate the interior of the basilica,

which is almost entirely covered in gold leaf,

clearly point to Venice's direct ties

with Constantinople and beyond.

This mosaics show the different peoples

that once engaged in trade with the Venetians:

Arabs, Cappadocians, Jews, Phrygians, Asians.

They're all, in fact, the peoples of the Silk Road.

St. John of Damascus, represented here as a Turkish merchant

wearing a turban, takes us back to a time

when the divide between East and West was not so clear cut,

when a Syrian, for example, could be a priest in the church

and could also be honored in a Catholic basilica

built in the ninth century.

(emotional orchestral music)

This sculpted marble plaque from the 10th century

is quite amazing.

It intermingles religious symbols

from both the East and the West.

You can see the Christian cross, the Star of David,

the Hindu swastika, the dharma wheel,

the lotus flower, sacred to the Buddhists.

It's very mysterious, but it's a wonderful example

of intercultural communication.

Many of these vestiges from the East

are not really the result of communication

but rather of plunder, or what the Venetians

called (foreign language).

For example, the famous Horses of St. Mark.

These magnificent bronze statues once stood

atop the great Hippodrome of Constantinople.

But after sacking the Byzantine capital

during the Fourth Crusade in the year 1204,

the Venetians stole the Quadriga.

And ever since, like a trophy of war, the four horses

have triumphantly adorned the front of the basilica.

Or rather, their copies, since the original Quadriga

was moved inside to protect it from the pollution.

In the old working class neighborhood of Cannaregio,

a mosaic factory continues to practice

the art of glass making and coloring,

which the Byzantines passed on to the Venetians.

An inconspicuous entry leads into one

of these hidden courtyards or secret gardens

that are so delightful in Venice, so similar

to the ones drawn by Hugo Pratt

in the adventures of Corto Maltese.

The Orsoni factory restores mosaics,

those from St. Marks and from many other basilicas,

and it perpetuates a very special technique

that originated in Byzantium, the art of hold leaf mosaics.

(glass clinking)

Where does mosaic making actually come from?

(foreign language)

The art of mosaics in its modern form

developed significantly during the Greek and Roman periods.

Pompeii is a very important example

of how it was already being used decoratively.

The ancient mosaics in Pompeii were already being created

with glass tiles that were tinted, because nature

does not offer the entire range of desired colors.

There seems to be a sort of back and forth movement

between the East and the West with regard to mosaics.

It's an art that was born here in Italy

during the Roman Empire, in Pompeii for example,

it traveled to Asia under the eastern Roman Empire,

Byzantium, and then came back to Italy

through Venice's merchants.

(foreign language)

Certainly there were exchanges.

It's true that glass mosaics came to us from the East.

There's no doubt that the process existed

in Constantinople before it was brought here

to Venice during the Byzantine period.

So it's obvious that knowledge and information

about glass making were exchanged from East to West

and then from West to East and that it continued afterwards.

(delicate music)

How are gold leaf tesserae made?

(foreign language)

The way we make the gold leaf,

the gold plates, follows the rules of the ancient Byzantine,

and before that Roman, canons.

It's a very special technique

that requires several days of work.

In fact, it's made like a sandwich,

with the gold leaf trapped between layers of glass.

We make the glass ourselves.

It's a very fine, blown glass that protects the gold leaf,

so that the gold leaf is placed in the middle,

molten glass is then poured onto the support,

and then it's all put together.

Golden mosaics are still highly prized

for their flamboyant beauty.

Today, however, the Orsoni factory is called upon

to decorate churches less often than luxury hotels

or the palaces of wealthy oil emirs.

(intriguing percussion)

In the fifth century, Attila, the leader of the Huns,

who'd pushed westward from the borders of China,

invaded Italy, forcing the inhabitants of the Po Valley

to take refuge in the lagoon of Venice.

Then, in the 13th century, it was the Venetian merchants

who, with an eye for adventure and economic gain,

would open up the route back to China.

It was from this house in 1271

that a 16-year-old Venetian youth set out on a journey

that would take him down the Silk Road to China.

His name, Marco Polo.

More than 20 years would go by before Marco Polo

would return to this very house.

He took up the life he'd led, but a few years later

he was captured and imprisoned in Genoa,

Venice's rival city.

It was in his cell that he would turn his travel adventures

on the Silk Road into the Book of Wonders,

or Milione in Italian, like the name of this house,

which would become one of the greatest

bestsellers of all time.

These memoirs, the travels of Marco Polo,

which were in fact dictated to a fellow cell mate,

would feed all kinds of fantasies about the fabulous

riches of the East, and inspire explorers.

It was one of Christopher Columbus's

favorite books, for example.

The commodity that fascinated Marco Polo

and made China rich was, of course, silk.

The fabric invented by the Chinese

more than 4,000 years ago first arrived in Venice

towards the beginning of the Middle Ages.

Weavers from the Bevilacqua family can be seen

in paintings dating back to the Renaissance,

and their factory on the Grand Canal

has been using the same looms since the 18th century.

(looms rattling)

When did silk and brocade weaving start in Venice?

(foreign language)

In Venice, the production of velvet

and brocade began in the 14th century.

In other words, around 1300.

The first fabrics that were produced

were called (foreign language),

which were originally imported from the East.

What is very important is that strong commercial,

as well as cultural, ties had always existed

between Venice and Constantinople, or Byzantium.

The Venetians had always made the textiles

for the caftans and the clothing of Turks and the East.

So the silk weaving techniques came from the East,

and it was you, the Venetians, who made the caftans

that were worn by the Ottoman sultans.

(foreign language)

Exactly.

So, in fact, the Silk Road went in both directions.

That's absolutely right.

Can you show us some damask?

Of course.

(exotic music)

So this fabric originally came

from the city of Damascus on the Silk Road.

That's right.

From Syria.

And this is all silk.

It's all silk, 100% silk.

And could you show us an example

of one of those brocades that were so precious

in the Middle Ages at the time of Marco Polo?

Of course.

This, for example, is a brocade made with silk and metal.

Brocade is a very special fabric.

Silk brocade embellished with silver.

With silver or with gold,

which may also be used to create the designs.

Brocade is probably the richest kind of cloth there is,

because you can weave in so many different colors

and thus create these multicolored designs,

while damask, for example, can only have two colors.

So that's the brocade.

What about the velvet, the famous cut velvet?

This is the soprarizzo velvet, as we call it in Venice.

Here it is.

That's beautiful.

The soprarizzo velvet,

as it's called here, was created in Venice.

Have any kinds of Venetian fabric

ever been found perhaps in India or China?

In China, I don't know.

China already had its own tradition of textiles.

And it's always been a rather closed culture,

so it's hard to know.

Marco Polo, on the other hand, is said to have stolen

some silk worms and brought them back to Venice.

Poor Marco Polo.

He gets blamed for everything.

If it's not the recipe for pasta that he's suspected

of stealing from the Chinese, then it's the silk cocoons

that he's supposed to have pocketed.

And what's more, he's even been accused of making up

his entire journey and of never having set foot in China.

(foreign language)

Although the gondola has become a boat for tourists

in Venice, this traghetto is certainly one of the coolest

forms of public transportation I've ever been on.

(gentle guitar music)

It's best to go early in the morning

to Venice's main outdoor market, near the Rialto Bridge.

There the fruit and vegetable stands sell,

among other things, the famous artichokes

of Venice, Carciofi.

The Silk Road has left its indelible mark

on Venetian cuisine, whose key ingredients

are fish and spices.

Irina Freguia is a specialist

in the gastronomic history of the city.

(foreign language)

Give me some of the (foreign language),

because I'm not sure I have any left.

But I want them closed.

Let me see them.

Good.

I was told they were excellent.

(foreign language)

Yes, the biggest.

Yes, please.

Irina's tavern, the Vecio Fritolin,

is well known among the Venetians

as one of the best places in the city to enjoy

traditional cooking straight form the lagoon.

As for the origins, whether factual or mythified,

of Venetian dishes, she has all of the answers.

Okay, credit where credit is due.

Where does pasta really come from?

Did Marco Polo bring noodles back with him to Venice?

(foreign language)

Well, to be honest, some say yes.

Others say no.

There are different theories, some may be even from Arabia.

But the very first pasta, real pasta, was made in the south,

in Naples, in Sicily, in southern Italy.

Down there they might have learned something

from the Chinese, but we don't know, no one knows.

There's nothing written.

This isn't just a patriotic Italian response?

No, not at all.

(exotic string music)

Would you have any specific examples of ingredients,

vegetables, or fruits that came from the East?

Artichokes are said to have come from Arabia or Persia.

(foreign language)

They first came here around 1,500.

They were specially planted on the island of Sant'Erasmo.

We call them (foreign language), which means first cut.

In other words, it's the first buds that are cut off,

which is why they're so small.

The Armenians brought fruits, apricots in particular.

And sugar came from the Arabs.

Then raisins arrived, the ones that are part

of the Jewish culture, and pine nuts,

lots of things, almost everything.

Nothing grew here in Venice.

There was only water, and that's it.

The Silk Road is also called

by many people the Spice Route.

And it's true that what the Venetian merchants

went off to Asia to buy in the first place were spices.

Spices were so precious that they were worth more than gold.

(foreign language)

That's right.

Spice was like silk, very expensive.

In addition to that, there were lots of kings and merchants

all over Europe who bought spices.

And Venice was the only supplier.

Pepper was worth a fortune.

(exotic string music)

(foreign language)

Moleche, the soft-shelled crab from the lagoon.

(foreign language)

Do I use a knife and fork or my fingers?

Always with your fingers.

Okay.

Just like in Asia.

(foreign language)

Not all Venetians were seafarers.

Like Marco Polo, many of them set off to the East

and went very far across the deserts of central Asia.

Palazzo De Mori, the house of the Moors,

which belonged to a family of merchants,

the Mastelli family, with a Bactrian camel on the outside.

I think we're going the right way.

These three 12th century merchants, the Mastelli brothers,

are dressed up as Moors, in other words as Arabs,

wearing Middle Eastern clothing and turbans.

They in fact came from an ancient region of Greece

called at the time Maria.

It's also believed that several Arab of Turkish merchants

actually did live in this area around the Campo De Mori.

There is a lovely Venetian legend about the origin

of the sculpted camel, which goes like this.

One of the Mastelli brothers had a Moorish fiance

who was supposed to meet up with him in Venice,

but she didn't know his address.

After going around the city in a gondola,

she finally came upon the camel.

And since the merchant had had it made especially for her,

she was able to find the house of her beloved.

The writer Alberto Toso Fei is a specialist

in the legends of Venice.

What is this building?

(foreign language)

This is the Fondaco dei Turchi,

the Inn of the Turks.

The name comes from the Arabic word "fonduke".

In Venice, international merchants were lodged in edifices

like this that were used both as houses and warehouses.

There was one for the Turks along the Grand Canal,

as well as one for the Germans.

There was a similar Fondaco for the Persians and the Arabs.

This proves that the Venetians did not separate

people from the East according to their religion

but instead according to their nationality:

Turks, Arabs, Persians.

The history of Venice's ties to the East

is not only written on the walls of its buildings.

It's also recounted by word of mouth.

Alberto, you've published entire collections of stories

from the oral traditions of Venice.

Are any of them about the person who fascinates me the most

in connection with the Silk Road, Marco Polo?

Well, yes.

There's one about Marco Polo when he returns to Venice.

At some point he has to return, and according to the legend,

he comes back with a Chinese wife,

who was one of Kublai Khan's youngest daughters.

They had fallen in love and gotten married.

A Chinese princess?

Yes, that's right.

He brings back nothing less than a Chinese princess.

But she's not happy here because she's so different,

let's just say.

And she doesn't feel accepted by her husband's family.

And so ...

La mama Italiana, his Italian mother

didn't like the Chinese girl.

Right.

And so when Marco is taken prisoner

after the Battle of Curzola and news gets back to Venice,

instead of telling her the truth,

that is, that he was imprisoned,

they tell the girl that Marco had died.

And so, as the story goes, she immolates herself

by setting fire to her garments and then throwing herself

into the canal from the window of the house.

She drowned herself in the canal

because Marco Polo was dead.

She had a beautiful voice.

According to the legend, Marco fell in love with her

because he heard her singing in the gardens of the palace.

And even today, as this romantic Venetian legend tells us,

if you go up on the bridge that still bears his name,

Marco Polo, which is near the house

where our traveler lived.

Il Milione.

That's right.

You might hear, on a summer night, a soft, sweet song.

And they say that it's Marco's wife who's singing,

knowing that she is loved in return.

Oh, that's very sad.

It is.

(sentimental music)

In the lagoon, there is an island that is so entirely

devoted to the East that it even became a sanctuary.

It's the island of San Lazzaro.

In the 18th century, this monastery was given

by the Republic of Venice to a group of monks from Armenia

who were fleeing Turkish persecution.

For many centuries, the former kingdoms of Armenia

were allied with the Venetians and the Europeans.

They were even ruled by a dynasty of knights,

the House of Lusignan, who'd come from Poitou, France

during the Crusades.

Coming form an ancient branch of Eastern Christianity,

the Armenian monks sought to preserve

the great cultural tradition of the Silk Road.

The collection is now one of the richest in the world.

It was after a very thorough reading

of Marco Polo's accounts of his travels along the Silk Road

that a Venetian monk, Fra Mauro, decided to draw a map,

the first map of the old world.

His work would turn Venice into

an international map making center.

The first globes would be created here, including this one.

The prosperity of Venice's cartography studios

shows the extent to which the city's fortunes

were linked to those of the Silk Road.

In fact, they would both start to decline

after the 16th century, when international trade routes

were rerouted towards the Atlantic Ocean.

After the fall of Constantinople, it was Venice that became

the keeper of the flame, says professor Alberto Paratone.

In your opinion, is the legacy Byzantine,

or does it come more from the Silk Road?

(foreign language)

Both.

Because the two of them go hand-in-hand.

The Silk Road was intricately linked

to the commercial interests of the Middle East,

which is what made Byzantium

an important point of reference.

One couldn't exist without the other.

The two were interconnected.

Venice is thus like the bridgehead

of a long chain of connections with the East.

Professor Paratone, who specializes in the movement

of ideas, teaches metaphysics at the university.

He's also the chief archivist

for the extraordinary library on San Lazaro.

How many works are there in this magnificent library?

(foreign language)

Approximately 170,000 books

in different collections, in both Western

and Eastern languages.

Many in Armenian, of course, but also in Arabic

and other Eastern languages such as Persian or Syriac,

as well as all the major Western languages.

After the congregation moved to Venice,

it would start to do a lot of translation work,

which has continued up to the present day,

translating Eastern works into Western languages,

and Western works into Eastern languages.

It's a way of promoting a mutual exchange of knowledge

between the cultures of these two worlds,

which have two different interpretations

of the Christian tradition,

the Latin world and the Eastern world,

and whose resources mutually enrich each other.

Could we say that the Armenians acted

as go-betweens between the East and the West?

Yes.

So there was an exchange which wasn't only

of material things, of objects,

of wealth and material resources,

but also, and I'd say above all, of knowledge,

which is what helps culture develop in an all around way.

In addition to its books, the monastery's collection

includes an unusual assortment of miscellaneous scholarly

and Orientalist artifacts.

For example, this astonishing 4,000-year-old Egyptian mummy

or this marquetry work from Damascus, antique porcelain

from China, and these miniatures from Persia.

(exotic wind music)

Venice may be the most beautiful city in the world,

but it's also an invitation to take off,

to explore other lands.

Marco Polo and many other Venetian merchants

and adventurers were not content to stay put.

They set out to seek their fortune across the deserts

and over the mountains of the Silk Road,

if only to return home later to the dreamy lagoon

and bask once more in the mirage of La Serenissima.

(adventurous music)