Italy Travelers and Explorers

Italy Travelers

All travelers and explorers are to be counted, by their very activity, among Italians abroad, but each one speaks to the individual voices. Here we will recall, in an overall view, only some of the major ones. In the century XIII Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, Franciscan, sent by Innocent IV on a mission to the Tartars, was the first to penetrate central Asia and left a precious relationship of the country and the people; Niccolò, Matteo and Marco Polo revealed China to the Europeans, where they stayed for twenty years; the book of Mark was for a long time the greatest source of knowledge on East and South Asia. The Vivaldi brothers, from Genoa, attempted an expedition around Africa, the fate of which was forever ignored.

In the century XV new great journeys and long stays in the Asian East made Oderico da Pordenone, Giovanni de ‘Marignolli, later Niccolò de’ Conti who traveled for a long time in Persia and neighboring regions. Merit of the Italians is the rediscovery of the Canaries, that of the Azores and the islands of Cape Verde, as well as the recognition of the nearby African coasts (Alvise da Mosto, Niccoloso da Recco). Pietro Querini was the first to give precise information on the European regions located north of the Polar Circle.

At the end of the century XV and at the beginning of the XVI century Cristoforo Colombo, Genoese, was the first to cross the Atlantic and believing he had reached Asia, he instead revealed in 4 voyages the Antilles and the countries around the American Mediterranean, also first touching the continent near the mouth of the ‘Orenoco; Giovanni Caboto reaches the island of Terranova and the S. Lorenzo estuary; Amerigo Vespucci, in two major voyages, fully recognizes the coast of South America, perhaps even beyond the Río de la Plata. Sebastiano Caboto resumes his father’s work, explores the coasts of South America for Charles V, then, having settled in England, directs the activity of a large maritime exploration company; Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine in the service of France, explores the eastern coasts of North America.

Still in the sec. XVI Paolo Centurione visits Russia and proposes new routes to Veneto trade. Lodovico de Varthema visits Arabia, Persia, India; Giovanni da Empoli and Andrea Cassali sail the seas of the Indies and East Asia; Cesare de ‘Fedrici visits Mesopotamia; Filippo Sassetti spent a long time in India; Matteo Ricci in China, of which he studies and illustrates characters, uses, customs; Francesco Carletti, a Florentine merchant, takes a tour around the world. In the century XVII emerges Pietro Della Valle, a Roman, who traveled for a long time in Turkey, Mesopotamia, Persia, India. Francesco Negri visits Scandinavia up to the North Cape, Antonio Zucchelli stays for six years in the Congo Basin and in Angola.

In the century XVIII two Jesuits, one, the Trentino missionary Eusebio Chini traveled and recognized California and neighboring regions, the other, the Pistoian Ippolito Desideri entered inaccessible Tibet and left a description which is a precious source of information on the conditions of that country at the beginning of the century. Lorenzo Boturini traveled and studied Mexico, Marco dalla Tomba India; at the end of the century Alessandro Malaspina di Mulasso in Lunigiana, in the service of Spain, made a tour around the world exploring and detecting the ill-known coasts of America on the Pacific, crossing the Pacific and visiting numerous archipelagos.

Among the many and glorious names of Italian explorers of the last century and contemporaries it is enough to remember: for America, Costantino Beltrami, discoverer of the sources of the Mississippi (1823), Antonio Raimondi, who explored Peru and discovered some sources of the Amazon River; Agostino Codazzi, explorer of Venezuela and neighboring regions; Giacomo Bove, who traveled to Argentina, Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego; in Asia and Oceania Luigi Maria de Albertis, Odoardo Beccari and G. Bove himself who explored Borneo, the Dutch Indies, Malaysia, Papua, etc .; the Duke of Abruzzi and Filippo de Filippi who led important scientific expeditions in the Karakorum. The names of GB Belzoni, Ippolito Rosellini, Giuseppe Ferlini, etc are linked to the history of knowledge of Egypt; Orazio Antinori (who then studied Ethiopia for a long time), Giovanni Miami, Carlo Piaggia, Romolo Gessi, valiant fighter against slave traders, and Pellegrino Matteucci, who with Alfonso M. Massari was the first to cross Africa from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Guinea. Vittorio Bottego’s expeditions to discover the course of the Giuba and the Omo are memorable. The Duke of Abruzzi made the ascent of the highest peaks of the Ruwenzori (1905), and recognized the sources of the Uebi Scebeli (1928). His wonderful activity as a traveler also went into the Arctic Polar Lands: with Umberto Cagni he made the expedition of the valiant fighter against slave traders, and Pellegrino Matteucci, who with Alfonso M. Massari was the first to cross Africa from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Guinea. Vittorio Bottego’s expeditions to discover the course of the Giuba and the Omo are memorable. The Duke of Abruzzi made the ascent of the highest peaks of the Ruwenzori (1905), and recognized the sources of the Uebi Scebeli (1928). His wonderful activity as a traveler also went into the Arctic Polar Lands: with Umberto Cagni he made the expedition of the valiant fighter against slave traders, and Pellegrino Matteucci, who with Alfonso M. Massari was the first to cross Africa from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Guinea. Vittorio Bottego’s expeditions to discover the course of the Giuba and the Omo are memorable. The Duke of Abruzzi made the ascent of the highest peaks of the Ruwenzori (1905), and recognized the sources of the Uebi Scebeli (1928). His wonderful activity as a traveler also went into the Arctic Polar Lands: with Umberto Cagni he made the expedition of the and recognized the sources of Uebi Scebeli (1928). His wonderful activity as a traveler also went into the Arctic Polar Lands: with Umberto Cagni he made the expedition of the and recognized the sources of Uebi Scebeli (1928). His wonderful activity as a traveler also went into the Arctic Polar Lands: with Umberto Cagni he made the expedition of the Polaris, which reached 86 ° 33′49 ″ of lat .; and, first among the Europeans, he explored Alaska and ascended Mount S. Elia (1897).

Italy Travelers