Murano

The Lagoon that Venice lies in is quite interesting. The main attraction in the area is clearly Venice but for those looking to make their way off the beaten path a little, trips to Murano and Burano are musts.

Murano is a series of islands that is famous for their glass. Here, glass blowing and glass making is an artwork passed down from generation to generation. The islands used to be their own independent group of islands but now it is a part of Venice. Murano was originally settled by the Romans and did pretty well for itself as a great fishing port and source of salt. By about the 11^th century, their status began to decline and Venice took control by the 13^th century, though it maintained more autonomy than other islands in the lagoon, maintaining their own set of coins.

Murano got its big break in 1291 when all the glassmakers in Venice were forced to move to Murano because of the risk of fires that could destroy the city build upon wooden planks. In the 1300s, Murano began to export glass and the island became more and more famous. Thought originally only focusing on glass beads and mirrors, the island’s inhabitants continued to focus on glass and developed new glass techniques and types such as Aventurine glass, and master more things, like lampworking and chandeliers.

Glassmakers quickly rose to the top of Murano’s society, becoming the pinnacle of the community. By the 14^th century, glassmakers were given immunity from prosecution by Venice, allowed to wear swords and even found their daughters were married into some of Venice’s most elite and affluent families.  Though they were not allowed to leave the republic, the monopoly Murano held kept the glassmakers in town and happy. Glass makers developed new techniques and techonologies, like Crystalline glass, enameled glass, glass with threads of gold, multicolored glass, milk glass and imitation gemstones made of glass.

Though it briefly became known as a resort destination for Venetians, Glass making remained the main draw from 1291 until today. There are other sites in Murano, like the Church of Santa Maria e San Donato (where it is said the bones of the dragon slain by saint Donatus are housed),  and the Glass museum.

 The trip out to the island is about a 45 minute ride from St. Mark’s Square and when we docked, we found rain starting to fall. We hurried into a glass making demonstration done near the docks and checked out their store. Knowing this was likely my one chance to get Molly some Murano glass from Murano, I was on the hunt from something for Molly. We didn’t see much and knew this wasn’t the only glassmaker on the island so we continued down the main walkway. I couldn’t help but laugh that every store was selling glass. Made me wonder how inhabitants on the islands get food…

We found a giant Murano glass ball and a chicken and took a few pictures. With the rain starting to fall a bit heavier, we decided to find a glass making demonstration inside and dry off while watching some glass being made. Not having a map of the island and with it being a Sunday (so a lot of things were closed), this was easier said than done. With nobody knowing where we were going, we ended up following a pigeon around for a while, figuring he knew the island better than us. To our great surprise, he didn’t lead us to a glass making demonstration so we were again on our own. We finally wandered down an alley and found a demonstration down an alley off the alley.

We walked in and were just in time. The glassmaker was just getting ready to start the demonstration, which is pretty much the same everywhere from what we found, where he made a small vase and then, out of a ball of glass, made a horse, which was wildly impressive. From there, you listen to a little sales pitch but I was too busy taking pictures to pay much attention to it and journeyed into the store. I quickly found that, with an unlimited budget, I could put down a good amount of cash here, finding chandeliers costing 15,000 euros and above, the horse the man made in less than a minute starting at about 80 euros, glasses on sale for 50 euros, sailboats at about 300 euros… clearly, finding something for Molly would not be a cheap or easy venture. I ended up being successful though so that was nice. With the sun nearing the horizon, we decided it was time to head to the next (and our last) island, Burano. 

 When we made our way to the last island, I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of Ke$ha face paint on this guy...

What happens at Carnivale doens't stay at Carnivale...