Description
Murano is the island of glass: seven small islets joined by bridges, northeast of Venice, where since the late thirteenth century the glass that made the lagoon famous around the world has been worked. Several vaporetti go there, from Piazzale Roma, San Zaccaria and the Fondamente Nove.
It looks like a small Venice, with its own Grand Canal, bridges and Gothic palaces. But the heart of the island is the furnaces, never put out: Murano glass is still made here, from crystal to great chandeliers.
The master blows into the long metal pipe and shapes the glowing glass, helped by two assistants, the servente and the serventino, with spatulas and tongs. The "Vetro Artistico Murano" trademark marks the pieces truly made on the island.
The Glass Museum, in the Gothic Palazzo Giustinian, the former residence of the bishops of Torcello, tells the story of glassmaking from ancient centuries to the twentieth. Among the most spectacular pieces is a sixty-arm chandelier by Lorenzo Santi and Giovanni Fuga.
Not far away is the basilica of Santi Maria e Donato, probably founded in the seventh century and also dedicated to Saint Donatus when his relics arrived, in 1125. In the apse is a twelfth-century mosaic of the Virgin in prayer; on the ground, a mosaic floor of the same age as the one in St. Mark's.
San Pietro Martire, rebuilt in 1511, looks onto the Rio dei Vetrai: it holds two canvases by Giovanni Bellini and large glass chandeliers, as befits the island. Don't overlook the lighthouse in Istrian stone, at the end of Viale Garibaldi.
The furnaces came here by decree. At the end of the thirteenth century the Serene Republic ordered Venice's glassworks moved to Murano: in a city made almost entirely of wood, they had already caused too many fires.
But there was another reason too. The Republic wanted to keep control of an art that had made it famous: the glassmasters had to live on the island and could not leave without special permission. In exchange, they were the only non-nobles allowed to marry the daughters of patricians.
Many escaped anyway, taking the secrets abroad. In France the royal mirror manufactory learned the technique through a genuine espionage operation, organized by the minister Colbert.
Murano long had its own podestà, its own Great Council and even its own coin, the osella. It was an autonomous commune until 1923, when it joined the municipality of Venice together with Burano.
Don't miss
• The Glass Museum.
• The basilica of Santi Maria e Donato.
• San Pietro Martire.
• The furnaces.
Did you know?
• The "Piedmontese" manganese, one of the secrets of Venetian crystal, actually came from a mine in the Aosta Valley.
• Before Napoleon there were eighteen churches and convents on the island: today three are still in use.
It looks like a small Venice, with its own Grand Canal, bridges and Gothic palaces. But the heart of the island is the furnaces, never put out: Murano glass is still made here, from crystal to great chandeliers.
The master blows into the long metal pipe and shapes the glowing glass, helped by two assistants, the servente and the serventino, with spatulas and tongs. The "Vetro Artistico Murano" trademark marks the pieces truly made on the island.
The Glass Museum, in the Gothic Palazzo Giustinian, the former residence of the bishops of Torcello, tells the story of glassmaking from ancient centuries to the twentieth. Among the most spectacular pieces is a sixty-arm chandelier by Lorenzo Santi and Giovanni Fuga.
Not far away is the basilica of Santi Maria e Donato, probably founded in the seventh century and also dedicated to Saint Donatus when his relics arrived, in 1125. In the apse is a twelfth-century mosaic of the Virgin in prayer; on the ground, a mosaic floor of the same age as the one in St. Mark's.
San Pietro Martire, rebuilt in 1511, looks onto the Rio dei Vetrai: it holds two canvases by Giovanni Bellini and large glass chandeliers, as befits the island. Don't overlook the lighthouse in Istrian stone, at the end of Viale Garibaldi.
The furnaces came here by decree. At the end of the thirteenth century the Serene Republic ordered Venice's glassworks moved to Murano: in a city made almost entirely of wood, they had already caused too many fires.
But there was another reason too. The Republic wanted to keep control of an art that had made it famous: the glassmasters had to live on the island and could not leave without special permission. In exchange, they were the only non-nobles allowed to marry the daughters of patricians.
Many escaped anyway, taking the secrets abroad. In France the royal mirror manufactory learned the technique through a genuine espionage operation, organized by the minister Colbert.
Murano long had its own podestà, its own Great Council and even its own coin, the osella. It was an autonomous commune until 1923, when it joined the municipality of Venice together with Burano.
Don't miss
• The Glass Museum.
• The basilica of Santi Maria e Donato.
• San Pietro Martire.
• The furnaces.
Did you know?
• The "Piedmontese" manganese, one of the secrets of Venetian crystal, actually came from a mine in the Aosta Valley.
• Before Napoleon there were eighteen churches and convents on the island: today three are still in use.