Venice (Part III): Murano glass-making

Venice, Italy

• Part I: St. Mark’s Square & Basilica
• Part II: Venetian cuisine
• Part III: Murano glass-making
• Part IV: Burano, “The Island of Painted Houses”
• Part V: Carnival Weekend

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Murano glass-making

The island of Murano in Veneto is also called “The Glass Island.” It is famous for its art of glass-making. Our group visited the main glass-making factory in Venice, where we saw a demonstration of the glass-making process and then were tantalized by a myriad of stunning glass products to purchase–jewelery, vases, dishes, figurines, lamps and more. We were already offered a discount, but I am proud to say that I managed to bargain my way to some even lower prices–my first true bargaining experience with an Italian shopkeeper 😀

These glass horse figurines filled many shelves of the shop, and I've not only noticed them in Murano and the city of Venice, but in Florence as well. At the end of the glass-making demonstration, the artist quickly created this glass horse in under one minute, like it was nothing.

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The glass-making process demonstrated involves inflating molten glass into a bubble using a tube, and then using air and tools to shape the glass.

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At this factory, the artists still use the glass-blowing method, using their own human breath to blow air through the tube to inflate the molten glass.

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It is amazing to see the beautiful creations that that bubble will transform into.

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Glass aquarium decorations--one of the many amazing creations we saw (and one of our favorites!)

Check back for Venice: Parts IV and V about 4) Burano (“The Island of Painted Houses”) and 5) the Carnevale.