[Red Badger]

Second hand lions ping!...............

[Ezekiel]

Scientific testing shows Venice’s bronze Lion of St .Mark was cast in China during the Tang Dynasty

Orange Man bad..

[montag813]

Return it to WalMart.

[Verginius Rufus]

Venice continued to hold various Greek islands long after 1261 and even after 1453—they lost Cyprus in 1570-71 and Crete in the 1600s but still held the Ionian Islands after that.

[Verginius Rufus]

Has it ever been determined if Marco Polo ever went swimming in swimming pools?

[dangus]

Don’t they read the bottom of the box in Italy?

[EnderWiggin1970]

The map on this page indicates Marco returned by sea most of the way, 1292-1295, from China to Persia. That still leaves quite an overland journey, and if those dates are accurate it's a little too late to match the 1293 date mentioned in the OP. (Though one could support it needed repairs immediately after finishing such an epic journey!)

One speculation I'd offer is that it was sent by ship (separate from any of the Polos) as far as possible - say to the Holy Land or Suez, and then brought overland to the Mediterranean shores to finish the journey. Moving it a long way by land just seems too much to ask, at least along the great length of the Silk Road route.

[Sirius Lee]

Stylistic evidence reveals it began as a mythic tomb guardian called a zhènmùshòu, complete with horns and bat-like ears later cut away.

Which is why it looks retarded. Probably went to the same art school as this guy:

That's supposedly a cat.