Murano

A Little More History of Glass Making

Venice and Murano in particular has been a centre for glass making for many hundreds of years. Roman glass from the Veneto region of Italy (where Venice is located) has been excavated from sites across the area. Archaeologists discovered one of the earliest glass furnaces on a Venetian island (believed to be Torcello), dating back to the 8th century.

By the 1200s glass making was a major and regulated industry in Venice. In the late 1200s, a law was passed requiring all glass making furnaces to be moved from Venice to Murano to avoid the fire risk to wooden buildings in Venice. It’s also believed his was to prevent glass makers from easly sharing their trade secrets with the outside world. These glass artisans had a privileged social status allowing them to marry into the richest Venetian families.

The great popularity of Venetian glass was in the 15th and 16th centuries. Following this there were falls, and the occasional rise, in popularity of Murano glass that continued until the post-war years when tourism gradually increased, new glassmaking techniques evolved and a new market evolved for Murano glass.

There are now believed to be about 1000 people still working in glass on Murano, many using techniques that have been around for hundreds of years. With the rise of imported knock-off items, the genuine Murano glassmakers have lost some of their market. So, when you can, always buy genuine items from crafstman and women on Murano.