Murano Island in Venice glass and jewellery and their history

Murano Island in Venice glass and jewellery have, for safety reasons, been located outside Venice for centuries.

Legend has it that anyone who evens occasionally leaves their home will, eventually, find themselves in Venice. Well, I don’t know, supposedly all roads lead to Rome. However, I did indeed end up in Venice, and not just at any time. We visited the city on the water during the famous Venice Carnival.

We have already written about the magnificent Venetian masks, customs, and carnival traditions of the Venetians on Our Trails. Today, I want to tell you about an extraordinary place that must not be overlooked when exploring Venice.

A quick history of glass in Venice and the Murano island

Venice is not only about the carnival and canals instead of streets. The city has been known for over a thousand years for the production of functional and decorative glass. Glass, or rather glass-like substances, has been known to people since ancient times.

The Roman historian Pliny described a story in which Phoenician sailors accidentally discovered a way to obtain glass:

The event was said to have taken place on one of the sandy beaches of present-day Libya. After a fierce storm and the loss of several ships, sailors landed on the mainland. To boost their morale, they lit a large bonfire, using wood from the wrecked ships. As the fire was fuelled for many days, with wood from the broken ships, just before setting sail again. They were surprised to find that beneath the layer of ash resulting from burning wood, the sand had turned into a glazed layer, forming a flat surface of something hard and translucent.

Among the crew of one of the Phoenician ships, someone recorded this curiosity. Thereafter, things went smoothly. Sand began to be melted, and when it became a malleable mass, it was used to fill moulds.

This is how Pliny wrote about the origin of glass, but how it really happened? No one knows!

The beginnings of glass through the eyes of historians

The earliest texts mentioning glassmaking come from stone tablets discovered in Assyria. They describe the initial, clumsy attempts to produce transparent and hard glass. The early glass did not resemble what we use today in any way.

The first glass made by humans was rough, cloudy, and brittle. As the texts on the Assyrian tablets state:

“…the substance obtained is brittle, and a man can crumble it in his fingers. Besides, it is as if dirty, and the sun barely passes through it…”

This is how the glass looked in those times. It was impure, rough, barely transparent, with an uneven surface and very fragile. The Egyptians later refined the glassmaking technique, becoming the first to use glass vessels.

The knowledge then spread to the Greeks and, subsequently, the Romans and the rest of Europe. It’s intriguing that during those times, the world was developing far from us. One might say that we were like the Third World of antiquity.

In those ancient times, glass products were among the more luxurious goods traded. It wasn’t until the 19th century, with the industrial revolution changing the face of the world, that glass became commonplace.

But let’s get back to Venice and the famous glassworks on the Murano island

The first traces of glass production in the area of Venice date back to the 7th century. In the 12th century, following several spectacular, but destructive fires in the city centre caused by glassmaking workshops, the authorities of the city-state, Venice at that time, issued a decree to relocate production to the nearby island known as Murano.

It was here that an incredible advancement in the technique of melting silica occurred. Instead of the old, matte, and brittle glass, beautifully transparent glass objects emerged. Techniques for blowing glass mass were also improved.

Colourful and intricate flasks appeared at the European courts, where ladies stored perfumes and oils. Often, the bottle itself was worth more than the expensive fragrances it contained.

The first glass workshops in Venice

The first workshops specializing in artistic glass production emerged. Famous lamps, lampshades, and glass decorations that are renowned to this day were created in these workshops. It was also here that methods of colouring glass mass were discovered. Through trial and error, the skilled masters from Venice began a new chapter in the history of glass.

It was found that by adding the right amount of metal compounds to the heated mass, various colours could be achieved. For example, adding iron would colour the glass green, while manganese and nickel would result in a purple hue. The beautiful ruby colour could be obtained by adding gold solutions to the glass mass. A recipe for a full palette of colours was quickly developed.

During their work, it was also discovered that by adding certain substances in carefully measured proportions, the durability, and strength of the final product could be increased. Through the same process, ancient glassmakers discovered crystal glass and toughened glass.

In addition to colouring, many decorative techniques were developed on Murano. Some of the more well-known ones include filigree, which involves joining two different pieces of glass. Other decorative methods still used today include enamelling, engraving, gilding, and ribbing. Besides these more familiar techniques, dozens of less popular and incredibly intricate decorative methods were developed. They are often kept as valuable secrets in old glassmaking families to this day.

Objects produced on the island of Murano quickly conquered the entire contemporary world.

Murano Island, commonly known as the Glass Island

Murano is a group of seven small islands interconnected by dozens of bridges, allowing for easy movement between them.

In the 13th century, all significant glassmakers from Venice settled here. These masters held a very high social status at that time. As one of the few non-noble groups, they had the right to carry swords and could marry into old families.

However, all these privileges were subject to one non-negotiable condition. Under the penalty of death, they were not allowed to leave the Republic. All of this was in place to protect the country’s monopoly on high-quality glass products.

As is frequently the case in such circumstances, many of the more daring individuals chose to escape. In this way, workshops were established in a few places in Europe, developing their own methods of glass production.

The production of Venetian glass remained a secret

However, as a rule, the authorities of the Venetian Republic managed to keep the ancient art of decorative glass production a secret for centuries. During the same period in Venice, the manufacturing of crystal glass, coloured glass, and enamel-covered glass was perfected.

Around this time, the famous Venetian mirror was invented on the island of Murano. It is a glass sheet covered on one side with a thin layer of metal. If the layer were slightly thicker, it would be a regular mirror. To make such a nearly invisible mirror work, two rooms are needed. One must be very brightly lit, and the other dark.

People in the well-lit room see only their reflection in the glass sheet, while those in the dark room can observe the individuals on the other side as if through regular glass.

We all remember the interrogations of suspects from old American crime dramas. Today, cameras and monitors are used, although I assume there are still places where old-fashioned Venetian mirrors are installed on the walls.

Museum of glass art in Murano Museo Vetrario

On one of the islands of Murano, you will find an extraordinary museum dedicated to the art of glassmaking; Museo Vetrario. It is one of the few such places in the world. Here, you can find information about the history and development of the aforementioned fields of art and industry. Most of the inventions that have taken place in this field over the centuries are presented and documented.

The museum also houses priceless examples of glass art, from the oldest to contemporary productions. This museum should be the first place on your list of attractions to see on the island of Murano.

In addition to the museum, on the surface of the Murano island, there are small family workshops and glass furnaces. They produce small items and decorations. In many places, there is an opportunity to observe glassmakers and glassblowers at work. It is a very intriguing sight.

Of course, the glass furnaces are not all that Murano has to offer. There are beautiful landmarks and many places where a simple stroll is a great adventure.

The most famous monuments of the Murano island

• The Cathedral of Santi Maria e Donato, a beautiful cathedral complex in the Romanesque style.
• The Church of San Pietro Martire.
• The previously mentioned Palazzo Giustinian Museum.
• We also enjoyed the Murano lighthouse, Faro di Murano, built in 1934.

Summary of the trip to the Murano island

If you manage to set aside a day during your stay in Venice or its vicinity, without hesitation, head to the Murano island. Even if you are not interested in the history of things that surround us daily, the beauty of the intricate glass creations produced there will surely captivate you.

Porady praktyczne związane z wyspami Murano w Wenecji

• To reach the Murano island from Venice, you will, of course, travel by water. Every few minutes, water buses depart from various points in the city. In addition to them, there are also water taxis, which are a bit pricier.
• The boat journey to the island takes about half an hour.
• The bus stops where the boats make their stops are usually located on floating platforms. One must be cautious when motorboats pass nearby, as these platforms can sway quite a bit.
• Public transportation is managed by a company called ACTV, and it is these boats you should be looking for. Other private carriers tend to be significantly pricier.
• You must validate your ticket before boarding the boat. Special machines for this purpose are located on the platforms.
• During the peak season, water transport can be heavily congested. It may often be challenging to get on the first bus that arrives. Arm yourself with patience and wait for the next one.

Ticket prices in Venice

Ticket prices nowadays can indeed change almost from day to day. Therefore, I suggest visiting the official website where you can always find the most up-to-date prices, typically with interesting promotions.

Children up to the age of six travels for free.

Curiosities, facts, and information from the island of Murano

• The Warsaw district of Murano indirectly took its name from the Murano island in Venice.
• Glass occurs quite frequently in nature. One example of natural glass is obsidian, which is volcanic glass.
• The oldest glassworks in Poland were mentioned in the records of one of the bishops of Poznań in the year 1310.
• The renowned Polish glassworks, NIEMEN, founded in 1891, produced decorative glass that was shipped to almost the entire world. Glass products from NIEMEN are highly valuable among collectors.
• The method for producing perfectly flat glass panes was invented only in 1952 in England. Earlier glass panes used in windows were typically imperfect and wavy. Currently, the molten glass is poured onto liquid tin, resulting in an almost perfect surface of the glass pane.
• Glass is the only substance that begins to melt at absolute zero. This is due to its atypical molecular structure.
• Nobel laureate Philip Anderson wrote about glass: “The nature of glass, and its principles of internal transformations, is the most interesting and unresolved issue in the physics of solids.”

Polish version