MARITIME BATTLE FROM 1298 RE-ENACTED NEAR KORCULA ISLAND

KORCULA, Sept 8 (Hina) - Sailing-ships and galleys carrying the flags of Venice and Genoa on Thursday gathered near the Croatian island of Korcula for the re-enactment of a maritime battle from 1298 in which the legendary adventurer and travel writer Marco Polo was captured by the Genoans. #L# The re-enactment of the battle, which is known as one of the biggest and most cruel maritime battles in the Middle Ages, was organised by the international centre "Marco Polo" and the Korcula Tourism Board. The Genoans sailing on tourist ships captured from the 'falkusa' galley Jakov de Polo, who successfully played his ancestor Marco. The assumption that Polo was born on Korcula is based on a document from the 15th century, which says that the Polo family was from Dalmatia, a coastal region in southern Croatia. After they entered the port of Korcula, Polo and other captured Venetians were taken to a tower in the vicinity of the city council building. Details about Marco Polo's apprehension are important because they enabled the publishing of his travelogues. In prison Polo bided the time by telling a fellow prisoners about his adventures. This prisoner wrote them down, thus giving birth to "The Book of the Wonders of the World", later known as "The Million". Following yesterday's reconstruction of the battle, at a ceremony held in the hotel 'Korcula', the president of the "Marco Polo" centre, Vladimir de Polo, handed awards to Miroslav Mikuljan, head of the Croatian Radio Television documentary section, and director Baldo Cupic, for their documentary about Marco Polo, which received numerous international awards. Attending the ceremony were numerous experts on Marco Polo, led by Michael Henss from Zurich, who arrived in Korcula from a seminar on Marco Polo and China in the 13th century, which was held in China. TV crews from Croatia, Italy, the Czech Republic, Great Britain and Slovenia filmed the battle, which is part of the "Festival of the Sea" event. (hina) jn rml