Odoric of Pordenone
WHS related to the life and travels of Odoric of Pordenone, "(c. 1280–14 January 1331) was a Franciscan friar and missionary explorer from Friuli in northeast Italy. He journeyed through India, Sumatra, Java, and China, where he spent three years in the imperial capital of Khanbaliq (now Beijing). After more than ten years of travel, he returned home and dictated a narrative of his experiences and observations called the Relatio, highlighting various cultural, religious, and social peculiarities he encountered in Asia." (wiki)
Connected Sites
| Site | Rationale | Link |
| Beijing Central Axis | He spent three years in the imperial capital of Khanbaliq (now Beijing) (wiki) | |
| Grand Canal | "Odoric embarked on the Grand Canal and travelled to the imperial city of the Great Khan" (wiki) | |
| Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles | The frescoes were made after his death, but he returned to the Friary of the Basilica of St. Anthony after his travels. | |
| Persepolis | "He seems to have wandered through Persia and Mesopotamia, visiting Kashan, Yazd, Persepolis, and Baghdad." (wiki) | |
| Piazza del Duomo (Pisa) | "From Padua he is thought to have proceeded to Pisa in order to take ship for the Papal Court at Avignon, where he wanted to report on the affairs of the church in the far East, and request recruits for the missions in Cathay. However, he fell ill in Pisa and returned home to Friuli where he died on January 14, 1331." (wiki) | |
| Quanzhou | "From Guangzhou, he travelled overland to the great port of "Zayton" (possibly Quanzhou ) where there were two houses of his order. In one of these, he deposited the remains of the martyrs of Thane." (wiki) | |
| Venice and its Lagoon | "Sometime after 1318, Odoric left Venice to begin his multi-year journey across Asia." (wiki) | |
| West Lake | He "visited Hangzhou ("Cansay"). It was at the time one of the great cities of the world and Odoric —like Marco Polo, Marignolli, and Ibn Battuta—gives details of its splendors. He mentions Hangzhou as "greater city than any other in the world, being 100 miles around, with everywhere within inhabited; often a house has 10 or 12 families. The city has twelve gates and at each gate at about eight miles are cities larger than Venice or Padua". (wiki) | |
| Yazd | "He seems to have wandered through Persia and Mesopotamia, visiting Kashan, Yazd, Persepolis, and Baghdad." (wiki) |
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