Niccolò Da Conti

Niccolò de' Conti (1395–1469) was an Italian merchant and explorer, born in Chioggia, who traveled to India and Southeast Asia, and possibly to Southern China, during the early 15th century. After the return of Marco Polo in 1295, there is no record of Italian traders returning from China until the return of de' Conti by sea in 1439. But we do have the account of the travels of a Franciscan monk by the name of Odoricus Mattiuzzi (1286-1331) from Friuli who in 1310 visited Armenia, Mesopotamia, Persia, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Sumatra, Java, Cambodia, Champa and China.