Marco Polo and the very long history of: the silk
Summary
VENICE 1262
More than seven centuries have passed ... and we talk about Marco Polo, a very young boy who started one of the most famous journeys in history. His life is then told in his famous book "Il Milione". Those were the years around the end of the 1200s and in his journey between time and space, our history begin between past and present….
The legendary Silk Road
Marco Polo's father and uncle had already traveled the mythical Silk road many years ago: the long commercial route that connected Europe to Asia. Marco Polo, still a teenager, instead participated in the second trip of 1271 which brought him for the first time to China, after a long and tiring journey of two and a half years, through seas, mountains, deserts and legendary cities.
THE MOST IMPORTANT MEETING
KUBLAI KHAN
A painting of Shizu, better known as Kublai Khan, as he would have appeared in the 1260s. The Kublai khan was one of China’s most famous king. He was the grandson of Genghis Khan, the founder of the Mongol Empire. In his own right, Kublai Khan is remembered for having established the Yuan Dynasty.
Kublai Khan is described from Marco Polo as a great and powerful ruler, but also one who cares about his subjects, through his charity and almsgiving to the poor, as well as his fair treatment of his subordinates. However, throughout the many anecdotes told to describe the Great Khan, there are several that seem to characterize him as not so great. These include the stories of his many wives and mistresses, as well as the corruption caused by one of his close subordinates, Ahmed.
LOOKING FOR THE BEST YARN IN THE WORLD
THE LONG WAY BACK TO VENICE
The stages of the journey
All these adventures are written into the Milione. Marco Polo talks about his incredible travels between Europe and Asia, mixing places actually visited with others of which he reports information from other travelers. For this reason there is no unanimous agreement on the actual stages of his journey.
From Far East to Italy
A precious gift that we received have transformed over the centuries as one of our best product that characterize the "Made in Italy".
THE FUMAGALLI MUSEUM
INSIDE THE MAGIC WORLD OF THIS INCREDIBLE NATURAL FIBER
The silkworm secretes a filament, variable in length from 350 meters to about 3 km, with which it forms the cocoon that can provide protection during metamorphosis. The filament is formed by two filaments of the fibroin (present for about 80% of weight) wrapped in the sericin (about 20%). This is eliminated later during a process called "degumming". Under the microscope the fiber has a regular appearance very similar to that of synthetic fibers. Sericin can be eliminated by treating the thread of raw silk (raw silk) with hot water: this treatment improves the gloss, the flexibility and the "hand" of the fiber. Depending on the amount of sericin eliminated we can have the different kind of silk !
