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 | Venice Murano Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 51 |  |
Murano is just a mile north of Venice - so no excuses for not visitng whilst here. Its actually a cluster of 5 islets, linked by bridges. The famous venetain glassware can be seen in workshops here - thats the touristic bit - but also just wander around the canals and take in the views. Its a miniature version of Venice and much more peaceful! We stayed on Murano for 4 nights in July 2004 so please see my Murano page for more details and info. |
When we went to Murano it was raining and storming very hard, so instead of walking around first, we went to Glass Museum directly. Not too many people were there, probably the bad weather had prevented many tourists from going to Murano that day.
The museum has lots of glass items on display, arranged according to the centuries in which they had been made. We saw beautiful things, including a huge centerpiece in the shape of a garden. Wonderful as it was to look at, I felt pity with the poor servants who had to clean it and set it up on the table.
Much detailed information was given on the process of glass making. This was very interesting, I had never known how many different kinds of glass there are.
Before we went out in the rain again, we had a coffee( from a machine !), which was better than many coffees in restaurants in Germany. And for just 50 cent it was really cheap.
The entrance fee to the museum was 2,50 Euro. It's worth going there even in sunshine.
Update:
Ingrid (VT member Trekki) told me, that the entrance fee is now 5,50. I don't know if we looked like senior citizens and got the reduced rate? Or we were thought to be the teachers of a school class who had been waiting before us? Leave a Comment |
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Go to St Mark's Square and take a right towards the water. Someone will approach you regarding a trip on a boat to Murano. Take the free boat ride that is sponsored by a glass blowing company.
The boat ride is a nice experience and it's free. That's $100 cheaper than the gondola ride!
The glass company representatives are not high pressure.
Have lunch and then hop on the vaporetto to get back to Venice. Leave a Comment |
Several of the lagoon islands that surround the city of Venice are tourist attractions, too. Especially the islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello in the northern part of the lagoon.
Murano is the largest of those three islnds. Settlements on Murano were founded as early as in the Roman ages. Today the island is famous for its glass art and glass blowing traditions. During medieval times the Venetian government decided to move all glass blowers from Venice to Murano to lower the risk of fires in Venice.
Burano is home to many fishermen and it is known for its colorful houses - as you can see on this page.
Torcello was once seat of a bishop and an important city. But then Venice kept growing and gaining power and importance. Leave a Comment |
If you've got more than 1 day in Venice, a trip to one of the Lagoon Islands should be in your list. The most popular are Burano and Murano.
Murano is the closest, and accessable by a 20 minute boat ride from San Marco and other departure points in Venice. (Transportation tip on my page tells you how to get there).
The island offers a break from the often overbearing crowds of Venice. The island is famous for it glass works, with most shops, a museum, and many factories on the island dedicated to the art of glasswork. |
This path is pretty beaten actually. Of the 3 islands outside venice.. this is probably the most visited island. Tours come here by throngs.. and everybody else comes here to find a good buy to bring back home. I wanted to get something back too.. But the good quality pieces were so pricey.. so i had to settle with a sub standard piece.. but i still like my buys.. cherries.. a plate and a gondola figurine.
I bought some other gifts too.. like a wine bottle stopper which was nice.. and small pendants for my gfs. Leave a Comment |
Let’s take a closer look at the lighthouse (faro) of Murano. Murano is located just north of Venice and is world famous for its Venetian glass. On this island you can watch glassblowers at work making all kinds of beautiful objects. I had to make a choice, as I only had a few days to visit Venice. So I decided to skip Murano on this trip. Sigh, I wish I could see it all! Hahaha, I guess it's a good motivation to go back to Venice again. I don't think this city with its beautiful islands will ever start to bore me. Leave a Comment |
Despite the fact that the Museo Vetrario was closed and the canals were under construction there still were some nice sites we wanted to visit. Murano with a similar shape to Venice, is a nine island system, connected by wooden and masonry bridges, crossing the Canal Grande (Grand Canal). And because we had time on our hands we spended more time of our visit at the island's architectural highlight, the Veneto-Byzantine Basilica di Santi Maria e Donato, with a colonnaded apse facing the canal to welcome people arriving from the sea. This is quite a distinguished fact that the back part is facing the Canal Grande, while the main part is oriented to the Orient side. The church was in origin dedicated to the Madonna and in a second moment to San Donato. It´s a Hexogonal plant facade, and a typical revennate basilica. The line of blind arches on the groundfloor is repeated on the gallery above. Between these two levels runs a series of triangles decorated with flowers and animals.
Maybe this ancient church is deceptively simple in outward appearance, but it is richly decorated inside. Inside you'll find a 12th century mosaic pavement presenting high quality ornament motive and symbolic animal figures and also the Madonna Orante image. We also learned that the foundation and its cellars go back to the 7th century and this makes it the oldest building of the entire lagoon.
Address:
The island of Murano.
Directions:
Murano can be reached from the Fondamenta Nuove taking the LN Line. Leave a Comment |
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Sleepy Murano is the largest of islands in the lagoon. It lies about 1,5 km across from Venice and was inhabitated since Roman times. The word Murano nowadays suggests glass factories and glass blowing. In fact the development of this island in the Middle Ages is strictly connected with glass. Murano was a commercial port as far back as the 7th century and by the 10th century it had grown into a prosperous trading center with its own coins, police force and commercial aristocracy. Then, in 1291, the Venetian Republic ordered glassmakers to move their foundries to Murano, because the glassworks represented a fire danger in Venice, whose buildings were mostly wooden at that time.
For us visiting Murano was a bit of a disappointment. The area around the Ponte Vibarini was under construction and that definately didn't make it any prettier. Besides that we wanted to visit the Museo Vetrario which is devoted to the art and history of glasswork. But we were not able to see the exquisite pieces on display, because we learned that the museum was closed on Wednesday!
Address:
The island of Murano.
Directions:
Murano can be reached from the Fondamenta Nuove taking the LN Line. Leave a Comment |
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A trip to Murano is not complete without visiting one of their famous glass makers. You can view items being produced then go in to the shop to buy a piece. The large stores can ship items anywhere in the world so it will always get home safe (hence the premis behind the Shakespeare play). When you visit these places you will note the absense of sales staff until you are ready to buy when these helpful ladies & gents appear from nowhere....... Leave a Comment |
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on August 7, 2004
Venice
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