Murano

Oct 11

Murano’s Origins

Murano is a series of tiny islands linked by bridges in the Venetian Lagoon. It is just a small boat ride away from Venice and it took a little over 30 minutes to get there from my hotel. Murano was initially settled by the Romans. In the beginning, the island thrived as a fishing village where men would catch fish and bring them to Venice for sale and trade. Then the age of white gold came with the production of salt (this made Venice a superpower of trade).

Murano's reputation as a center for glassmaking was born when the Venetian Republic ordered glassmakers to move their furnaces to Murano in 1291. All the buildings of Venice were wood and this scared people so the leaders decided to put all the glass makers here.

Murano

Glass Making and Blowing

This is what makes Murano world famous, they didn’t invent it but they did perfect it! It is unparalleled quality, exquisite range of colours, and the unsurpassed craftsmanship. This man was a magician and has spent his entire life mastering the trade from generations before him. Ive seen people blown glass before but this was like nothing Ive seen before. I just starred and him and watched and even after the presentation was over with and the group walked away I stayed. He was methodical in his approach and each move was smooth and effortless. What makes me sad is what I mentioned before about the lace making in Burano, the next generation is leaving these type of trades. The money just isn’t there and cheaper, Chinese knockoffs rule the day. Why pay a premium for handcrafted when you can get the $20 Amazon special delivered to your door in hours? The youth of Murano escape to bigger cities with more opportunity leaving the old world traditions on the brink of extinction.

The Process

Murano Glass

The Resulting Product

After spending a great deal of time in the shop watching this man delicately manipulate the glass at his will, I went to his store.

Everything imaginable could be found. Statues, chandeliers, drink wares and he said people can make requests as well. He said he could make anything. I couldn’t help but ask anything? Had anyone ever asked to make a replica of their penis? He laughed and showed me the case containing assorted breasts and penis’s.