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00:02As a reporter, I've traveled around the Middle East for many years.
00:06It's an area that has always fascinated me, but in my work, I've mainly covered its war zones, its crises,
00:12and its tragedies.
00:13This journey, which takes me down the Silk Road in the footsteps of Marco Polo,
00:17gives me the opportunity to explore the great historical and cultural significance of this part of the world,
00:22its ancient melting pot of peoples and civilizations that have contributed so much to our own.
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01:01The name of the Silk Road was invented in the 19th century to describe the network of
01:06economic as well as intellectual exchanges that went on between the East and the West.
01:10We know where it ends in Xi'an, the former capital of the Chinese Empire.
01:14But where should it start from?
01:17Byzantium?
01:18From Antioch?
01:19Jerusalem perhaps?
01:20Or why not from here?
01:22From Venice, the European gateway to the Orient and the point of departure for the most famous
01:27traveler to have ever hit this road and its 16,000 kilometers, Marco Polo.
01:35Venice seems to hover between the sea and the sky, the floating city as Serenissima owed
01:40its splendor to its trading activities with the Levant.
01:43It was indeed an outpost of the East on the European continent.
01:46The St. Mark's Basilica is a symbol of this interconnection between East and West.
01:50It was built to house the relics of Mark the Evangelist after his remains were brought here
01:54from Egypt.
01:55On its façade, the lion is an attribute of the saint and an emblem of the city.
02:06The mosaics that decorate the interior of the basilica, which is almost entirely covered
02:10in gold leaf, clearly point to Venice's direct ties with Constantinople and beyond.
02:16These mosaics show the different peoples that once engaged in trade with the Venetians.
02:21Arabs, Cappadocians, Jews, Phrygians, Asians, they're all in fact peoples of the Silk Road.
02:29St. John of Damascus, represented here as a Turkish merchant wearing a turban, takes
02:34us back to a time when the divide between East and West was not so clear cut.
02:38When a Syrian, for example, could be a priest in the church and could also be honoured in
02:42a Catholic basilica, built in the 9th century.
03:00This sculpted marble plaque from the 10th century is quite amazing.
03:03It intermingles religious symbols from both the East and the West.
03:08You can see the Christian cross, the star of David, the Hindu swastika, the Dharma wheel,
03:14the lotus flower sacred to the Buddhists.
03:18It's very mysterious, but it's a wonderful example of intercultural communication.
03:28Many of these vestiges from the East are not really the result of communication, but rather
03:32of plunder, or what the Venetians called, spoiling.
03:35For example, the famous horses of St. Mark.
03:39These magnificent bronze statues once stood atop the great Hippodrome of Constantinople.
03:44But after sacking the Byzantine capital during the Fourth Crusade in the year 1204, the
03:49Venetians stole the quadriga.
03:52And ever since, like a trophy of war, the four horses have triumphantly adorned the front
03:57of the basilica.
03:58Or rather, their copies, since the original quadriga was moved inside to protect it from the pollution.
04:09In the old working-class neighbourhood at Canaregio, a mosaic factory continues to practice the
04:14art of glassmaking and colouring, in which the Byzantines passed on to the Venetians.
04:18An inconspicuous entry leads into one of these hidden courtyards or secret gardens that are
04:23so delightful in Venice, and so similar to the ones drawn by Hugo Pratt in The Adventures
04:27of Porto Maltese.
04:29The Orsini factory restores mosaics, those from St. Marks, and from many other facilities.
04:34And it perpetuates a very special technique that originated in Byzantium, the art of Goldilich
04:39mosaics.
04:50Where does mosaic making actually come from?
04:55The art of mosaics in its modern day developed significantly during the Greek and Roman periods.
05:00Pompeii is a very important example of how it was already being used decorative.
05:06ancient mosaics in Pompeii were already being created with glass tiles that were tinted.
05:12This nature does not offer the entire arrangement of desired colour.
05:19There seems to be a sort of back and forth movement between the East and the West with
05:22regard to mosaics.
05:24It's an art that was born here in Italy during the Roman Empire, in Pompeii for example.
05:28It travelled to Asia under the Eastern Roman Empire, Byzantium, and then came back to Italy
05:33through Venice's merchants.
05:38Certainly there were exchanges.
05:41It's true that glass mosaics came to us from the East.
05:45There's no doubt that the process existed in Constantinople before it was brought here
05:50to Venice during the Byzantine period.
05:54So it's obvious that knowledge and information about glass making were exchanged from East to
06:00West, and then from West to East, and that it continued afterwards.
06:14The way we make the gold leaf, the gold plates, follows the rules of the ancient Byzantine
06:22and before that Roman canons.
06:26It's a very special technique that requires several days of work.
06:30In fact, it's made like a sandwich, the gold leaf trapped in layers of glass.
06:37We make the glass ourselves.
06:38It's a very fine-blown glass that protects the gold leaf, so that the gold leaf is placed
06:44in the middle, molten glass is then poured onto the support, and then it's all put together.
06:57The gold leaf is still highly prized for their flamboyant beauty.
07:01Today, however, the Orsoni factory is called upon to decorate churches less often than luxury hotels
07:06or the palaces of wealthy oil emirs.
07:13In the 5th century, Attila, the leader of the Huns, who'd pushed westward from the borders of China,
07:18invaded Italy, forcing the inhabitants of the Po Valley to take refuge in the lagoon of Venice.
07:24Then, in the 13th century, it was the Venetian merchants who, with an eye for adventure and economic gain,
07:30would open up the route back to China.
07:31It was from this house in 1271 that a 16-year-old Venetian youth set out on a journey
07:37that would take him down the Silk Road to China.
07:39His name? Marco Polo.
07:43More than 20 years would go by before Marco Polo would return to this very house.
07:48He took up the life he'd led, but a few years later he was captured and imprisoned in Genoa, Venice's
07:53rival city.
07:53It was in his cell that he would turn his travel adventures on the Silk Road into the Book of
07:58Wonders,
07:58or Milioni in Italian, like the name of this house,
08:02which would become one of the greatest bestsellers of all time.
08:06These memoirs, The Travels of Marco Polo, which were in fact dictated to a fellow cellmate,
08:11would feed all kinds of fantasies about the fabulous riches of the East and inspire explorers.
08:16It was one of Christopher Columbus's favourite books, for example.
08:26The commodity that fascinated Marco Polo and made China rich was, of course, silk.
08:31The fabric invented by the Chinese more than 4,000 years ago
08:35first arrived in Venice towards the beginning of the Middle Ages.
08:39Weavers from the Bevilacqua family can be seen in paintings dating back to the Renaissance,
08:43and their factory on the Grand Canal has been using the same looms since the 18th century.
09:02When did silk and brocade weaving start in Venice?
09:06In Venice, the production of velvet and brocade began in the 14th century,
09:12in other words, around 1300.
09:17The first fabrics that were produced were called chiamiti,
09:22which were originally imported from the East.
09:28What is very important is that strong commercial as well as cultural ties
09:33had always existed between Venice and Constantinople, or Byzantium.
09:39The Venetians had always made the textiles for the kaftans and the clothing of the Turks and the East.
09:50So the silk weaving techniques came from the East,
09:53and then it was you, the Venetians, who made the kaftans,
09:55that were worn by the Ottoman sultans?
09:59Exactly.
10:01So in fact the Silk Road went in both directions?
10:03That's absolutely right.
10:06Can you show us some Damask?
10:08Of course.
10:22So this fabric originally came from the city of Damascus on the Silk Road?
10:26That's right.
10:27From Syria.
10:28And this is all silk?
10:30It's all silk.
10:31100% silk.
10:33And could you show us an example of one of those brocades
10:36that was so precious in the Middle Ages at the time of Marco Polo?
10:40Of course.
10:42This, for example, is a brocade made with silk and metal.
10:48Brocade is a very special fabric.
10:51A silk brocade embellished with silver.
10:55With silver or with gold.
10:58Which may also be used to create the designs.
11:03Brocade is probably the richest kind of cloth there is
11:06because you can weave in so many different colours
11:09and thus create these multi-coloured designs.
11:15While Damask, for example, can only have two colours.
11:20So that's the brocade.
11:21What about the velvet?
11:22The famous cut velvet?
11:25This is the Soprarizzo velvet, as we call it in Venice.
11:31Here it is.
11:33That's beautiful.
11:34The Soprarizzo velvet, as it's called here, was created in Venice.
11:44Have any kinds of Venetian fabric ever been found perhaps in India or China?
11:51In China, I don't know.
11:54China already had its own tradition of textiles.
11:57And it's always been a rather closed culture.
11:59So it's hard to know.
12:05Marco Polo, on the other hand, is said to have stolen some silkworms and brought them back to Venice.
12:10Here we go.
12:12Here we go.
12:13Here we go.
12:14Here we go.
12:16Poor Marco Polo.
12:18He gets blamed for everything.
12:19If it's not the recipe for pasta that he's suspected of stealing from the Chinese,
12:23then it's the silk cocoons that he's supposed to have pocketed.
12:26And what's more, he's even been accused of making up his entire journey
12:29and of never having set foot in China.
12:33Hello.
12:34Good day.
12:35Good walk.
12:43Although the gondola has become a focus of tourists in Venice,
12:46this traghetto is certainly one of the coolest forms of public transportation I've ever been on.
12:58It's best to go early in the morning to Venice's main outdoor market near the Rialto Bridge.
13:04There, the fruit and vegetable stands sell, among other things, the famous artichokes of Venice, Carciofi.
13:11The Silk Road has left its indelible mark on Venetian cuisine, whose key ingredients are fish and spices.
13:18Irina Freguia is a specialist in the gastronomic history of the city.
13:22Give me some of the moeci because I'm not sure I have any left.
13:27But I want them closed.
13:30Let me see them.
13:32Good.
13:32I was told they were excellent.
13:38Yes, the biggest.
13:41Yes, please.
13:45Irina's tavern, the vecchio frittolin, is well known among Venetians as one of the best places in the city to
13:50enjoy traditional cooking, straight from the lagoon.
13:54As for the origins, whether factual or mythified, of Venetian dishes, she has all of the answers.
14:00Okay, credit where credit is due, where does pasta really come from? Did Marco Polo bring noodles back with him
14:06to Venice?
14:09Well, to be honest, some say yes, others say no.
14:14There are different theories, some maybe even from Arabia.
14:19But the very first pasta, real pasta, was made in the south, in Naples, in Sicily, in southern Italy.
14:27Down there, they might have learned something from the Chinese, but we don't know. No one knows. There's nothing written.
14:35This isn't just a patriotic Italian response?
14:38No, not at all.
14:50Would you have any specific examples of ingredients, vegetables or fruits that came from the east?
14:56Artichokes are said to have come from Arabia or Persia.
15:00They first came here around 1,500.
15:06It was specially planted on the island of Sant'Erasmo.
15:10We call them castro, which means first cut.
15:15In other words, it's the first buds that are cut off, which is why they're so small.
15:21The Armenians brought fruits, apricots in particular, and sugar came from the Arabs.
15:28Then raisins arrived, the ones that are part of the Jewish culture, and pine nuts.
15:33Lots of things, almost everything.
15:37Nothing grew here in Venice.
15:39There was only water, and that's it.
15:42The Silk Road is also called by many people the spice route.
15:46And it's true that what the Venetian merchants went off to Asia to buy in the first place were spices.
15:52And spices were so precious that they were worth more than gold.
15:56That's right. Spice was like silk, very expensive.
16:02In addition to that, there were lots of kings and merchants all over Europe who bought spices.
16:08And Venice was the only supplier.
16:11Pepper was worth a fortune.
16:13Fortuna valeva.
16:23Grazie.
16:26Carciofi.
16:27Carciofi.
16:28E le moiche.
16:30Moiche, the soft-shelled crab from the lagoon.
16:34Do I use a knife and fork or my fingers?
16:38Always with your fingers.
16:39Okay.
16:40Just like in Asia.
16:44Mmm, famoso.
16:49Not all Venetians were seafarers.
16:51Like Marco Polo, many of them set off to the east and went very far across the deserts of Central
16:56Asia.
16:58Palazzo dei Mori, the house of the Moors, which belonged to a family of merchants, the Mastelli family, with a
17:04Bactrian camel on the outside.
17:06I think we're going the right way.
17:07We're on the good route.
17:09These three 12th century merchants, the Mastelli brothers, are dressed up as Moors, in other words, as Arabs, wearing Middle
17:15Eastern clothing and turbans.
17:16They, in fact, came from an ancient region of Greece called, at the time, Maria.
17:21It's also believed that several Arab or Turkish merchants actually did live in this area around the Campo dei Mori.
17:28There is a lovely Venetian legend about the origin of the sculpted camel, which goes like this.
17:33One of the Mastelli brothers had a Moorish fiancée who was supposed to meet up with him in Venice, but
17:38she didn't know his address.
17:40After going round the city in a gondola, she finally came upon the camel.
17:43And since the merchant had had it made especially for her, she was able to find the house of her
17:47beloved.
17:51The writer Alberto Tosefe is a specialist in the legends of Venice.
17:55What is this building?
17:58This is the Fondacco dei Turchi, the Inn of the Turks.
18:03The name comes from the Arabic word Fonduc.
18:06In Venice, international merchants were lodged in edifices like this that were used both as houses and warehouses.
18:15There was one for the Turks along the Grand Canal, as well as one for the Germans.
18:19There was a similar Fondacco for the Persians and the Arabs.
18:22This proves that the Venetians did not separate people from the East according to their religion,
18:27but instead according to their nationality, Turks, Arabs, Persians.
18:34The history of Venice's ties to the East is not only written on the walls of its buildings.
18:39It's also recounted by word of mouth.
18:43Alberto, you've published entire collections of stories from the oral traditions of Venice.
18:48Are any of them about the person who fascinates me the most in connection with the Silk Road, Marco Polo?
18:54Well, yes.
18:56There's one about Marco Polo when he returns to Venice.
18:59At some point he has to return and according to the legend he comes back with a Chinese wife
19:03who is one of Kublai Khan's youngest daughters.
19:06They had fallen in love and gotten married.
19:09A Chinese princess?
19:09Yes.
19:10Yes, that's right.
19:12He brings back nothing less than a Chinese princess.
19:15She's not happy here because she's so different, let's just say.
19:19And she doesn't feel accepted by her husband's family.
19:23And so...
19:25La Mama Italiana, his Italian mother, didn't like the Chinese girl.
19:30Right.
19:31And so when Marco was taken prisoner after the Battle of Curzola, when the news gets back to Venice, instead
19:38of telling her the truth, that is, that he was imprisoned, they tell the girl that Marco had died.
19:44And so, as the story goes, she immolates herself by setting fire to her garments and then throwing herself into
19:52the canal from the window of the house.
19:55She drowned herself in the canal because Marco Polo was dead.
19:59She had a beautiful voice.
20:01According to the legend, Marco fell in love with her because he heard her singing in the gardens of the
20:06palace.
20:07And even today, as this romantic Venetian legend tells us, if you go up on the bridge that still bears
20:14his name, Marco Polo, which is near the house where our traveler lived...
20:19Del Milione?
20:21That's right.
20:22You might hear, on a summer night, a soft, sweet song.
20:27And they say that it's Marco's wife who's singing, knowing that she is loved in return.
20:34Well, that's very sad.
20:35It is.
20:43In the lagoon, there is an island that is so entirely devoted to these that it even became a sanctuary.
20:50It's the island of San Lazaro.
20:52In the 18th century, this monastery was given by the Republic of Venice to a group of monks from Armenia
20:57who were fleeing Turkish persecution.
21:04For many centuries, the former kingdoms of Armenia were allied with the Venetians and the Europeans.
21:09They were even ruled by a dynasty of knights, the House of Lusignan, who'd come from Poitou, France, during the
21:15Crusades.
21:18Coming from an ancient branch of Eastern Christianity, the Armenian monks sought to preserve the great cultural traditions of the
21:24Silk Road.
21:25Their collection is now one of the richest in the world.
21:33It was after a very thorough reading of Marco Polo's account of his travels along the Silk Road that a
21:38Venetian monk, Fra Mauro, decided to draw a map, the first map of the Old World.
21:44His work would turn Venice into an international map-making center.
21:47The first globes would be created here, including this one.
21:53The prosperity of Venice's cartography studios shows the extent to which the city's fortunes were linked to those of the
21:59Silk Road.
22:00In fact, they would both start to decline after the 16th century, when international trade routes were rerouted towards the
22:05Atlantic Ocean.
22:08After the fall of Constantinople, it was Venice that became the keeper of the flame, says Professor Alberto Paratone.
22:16In your opinion, is the legacy Byzantine, or does it come more from the Silk Road?
22:22Both, because the two of them go hand in hand.
22:27The Silk Road was intricately linked to the commercial interests of the Middle East, which is what made Byzantium an
22:34important point of reference.
22:38One couldn't exist without the other. The two were interconnected.
22:46Venice is thus like the bridgehead of a long chain of connections with the East.
22:53Professor Paratone, who specializes in the movement of ideas, teaches metaphysics at the university.
22:59He's also the chief archivist for the extraordinary library on San Lázaro.
23:03How many works are there in this magnificent library?
23:10Approximately 170,000 books, in different collections, in both Western and Eastern languages.
23:19Many in Armenian, of course, but also in Arabic and other Eastern languages, such as Persian or Syriac, as well
23:29as all the major Western languages.
23:33After the congregation moved to Venice, it would start to do a lot of translation work, which has continued up
23:41to the present day, translating Eastern works into Western languages and Western works into Eastern languages.
23:52It's a way of promoting a mutual exchange of knowledge between the cultures of these two worlds, which have two
23:59different interpretations of the Christian tradition, the Latin world and the Eastern world, and whose resources mutually enrich each other.
24:11Could we say that the Armenians acted as go-betweens between the East and the West?
24:15Yes. So there was an exchange, which wasn't only material things, of objects, of wealth, of material resources, but also,
24:25and I'd say above all, of knowledge, which is what helps culture develop in an all-around way.
24:35In addition to its books, the monastery's collection includes an unusual assortment of miscellaneous scholarly and orientalist artefacts.
24:43For example, this astonishing 4,000-year-old Egyptian mummy, or this marquetry work from Damascus, antique porcelain from China,
24:52and these miniatures from Persia.
25:00Venice may be the most beautiful city in the world, but it's also an invitation to take off to explore
25:05other lands.
25:07Marco Polo and many other Venetian merchants and adventurers were not content to stay put.
25:11They set out to seek their fortune across the deserts and over the mountains of the Silk Road,
25:15if only to return home later to the Dreamy Lagoon, and bask once more in the Mirage of La Serenissima.
25:21The
25:23это
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