The Pilgrim – The travels of Pietro Della Valle –

“Pietro Della Valle was a romantic. Born in 1586 of an illustrious Italian family which boasted two cardinals, he wooed the woman of his choice for twelve long years: when her family gave her to another, he left Italy, vowing never to return until he had set foot in the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Twelve years of travels took him to Turkey, Persia and India, and were recorded in three distinctive books, of which only the Indian version has ever before been published in English. Yet Pietro Della Valle was a man whose intrepid spirit, natural curiosity and knowledge of languages made him the perfect guide to the colourful and turbulent world of the seventeenth century. …”