Niccolò and Maffeo Polo
Niccolò Polo (Italian: [nikkoˌlɔ pˈpɔːlo], Venetian: [nikoˌɰɔ ˈpolo]; c. 1230 – c. 1294) and Maffeo Polo (Italian: [mafˈfɛːo ˈpɔːlo], Venetian: [maˈfɛo ˈpolo]; c. 1230 – c. 1309) were Italian travelling merchants from the Republic of Venice, best known as the father and uncle, respectively, of the explorer Marco Polo. The brothers went into business before Marco's birth, established trading posts in Constantinople, Sudak in Crimea, and in a western part of the Mongol Empire in Asia.