Many years back, glass blowers were moved from the main island of Venice to the small island of Murano for many reasons. Fire hazard would have been the most obvious one, with hot furnaces for preparing the glass, no one would have wanted to risk the possibility of an island-wide blaze.
I visited Murano to see the glass blowers and get an idea of how the other islands look like. You will hear about two more in later posts. Hope you enjoy the visual treats.
Boarded the Vaporetto the day after my arrival and after having purchased a multi-pass ticket with the “Rolling Venice” card I spoke about previously. Headed off to Murano. Several boat lines run past the island, but make sure you pick the right one or else you’ll be stuck travelling through the grand canal first, which will take ages (an hour at least).
The island ahead in the distance hosts a cemetery where many famous people are buried. The famous composer Igor Stravinsky was one of them. I find his music quite interesting! The piano solo rendition of his ballet Petrushka is probably my favourite.
Definitely want to learn how to play this one day, not easy though!
The local postal service, even they have their own boats.
Isle of San Michele once again, the chapel, I believe, which is next to the cemetery.
Murano is just next to this island and I got off at the first station. There are several around the island and my plan was to walk from the first stop through the island and later get on at whatever stop could save me time on the way back.
Your local petrol station in Venice, looks a “bit” different from those you find elsewhere. Saw this one on Murano near the Vaporetto stop I got off.
Didn’t know where exactly to start so I just walked along the edge of the island enjoying the water-side views.
Eventually found a glass-blowing workshop that was at the back of a shop that sells various glass merchandise. Some glass blowers hard at work. Would not want to go near those furnaces, it was warm enough from where I was standing.
Work in progress on what looks like a display piece that may cost around a hundred Euros or so, given the size. The head had just been implanted after much rolling and boiling by another in the furnace. Team work is required.
I soon found out that the workshop I was watching was not actually open to tourists (well, lock the front door from outside then or put up a sign…). There wasn’t much signage on the island at all so it wasn’t easy to find other workshops.
I eventually stumbled across a public workshop, where you stand in line, are led into the workshop, where glass blowers look like zoo animals working away while you are required to stand behind the railing and have limited time to take photographs (without flash of course, hehe).
In case you’ve seen Venetian glass works before and ever wondered how they managed to put tiny colourful decorations inside the glass, here is the answer. The hot glass is simply rolled across these palettes and melted a bit in the furnace.
Apparently the workers were making cups for drinking. Rolling off what seems to be the starting piece here. I didn’t get to see the end of it as we were soon shoved out of the workshop into the souvenir shop, where there were many items that were nice to see, but not very affordable for my wallet.
Having seen enough glass blowing, I decided to walk through the island to see what else there was. Walked through some residential districts of the island. The house looks very orange-brown!
It all seemed quite deserted to me. Didn’t see many people around. I read that Murano usually becomes a ghost town by night because not many people live on the island as glass blowers are not obligated to.
Enjoying the afternoon weather and peace and quiet.
Walked pass another glass shop and saw these prehistoric-looking flowers just outside. Don’t know whether to call them flowers or simply plants.
Like the main island, Murano also has some canals running through it, where mainly little speedboats travel through (gondolas are only seen on the main island). I came across what seemed to be one of the main canals and decided to look for lunch.
Tried a tourist menu, Spaghetti and a grilled fish with bread and a cold drink. Was not bad, but should’ve ordered something else. Tourist menus are really clichéd and mimic the stereotypical perception of “Italian Food”, if you want to enjoy the cuisine there, I suggest deciding on the restaurant not based on its tourist menu, but whatever else it serves.
Lots of glass souvenir shops can be found around Murano. Loved the sign, something tells me you can get authentic products inside here.
Arrived at a bell tower and a huge glass artwork, decided to turn around here, but not before taking a closer look.
Not sure who Simone Cenedese is, but it is certainly an interesting piece of work, which must have taken ages. I wonder what it looks like.
Every single “limb”/”tentacle”/”spike”/”tube” looks different…
A courtyard among some houses, complete with greenery and many different red tones. Red seems to be a common colour here in Venice.
Stopped to have a cappucino before making my way down to the nearest Vaporetto stop. The people here were very friendly.
I did enjoy the atmosphere along this canal, not too busy, very peaceful and relaxing. Had the sun been a little less stronger, it would have been perfect. Still very enjoyable though.
Wherever you go on Murano, you’re guaranteed to see lots of glass works.
The houses on the island seem slightly older than those on the main island, but they’re all neverhteless mostly made of brick. Plaster has been peeling off for some time now. I also noticed that many of the “road” or “alley” signs are painted on the houses.
A sculpture for spirit’s uplifting? is what these group of birds are called. This is probably the funniest exhibit I’ve seen around the island. Read the description, sounds complicated and I’ll spare you the details here. But as you can see, we have a bunch of transparent ducks.
Water that separates the sub-islands of Murano. You can get to them via bridges as usual. The whole Murano district is quite small, no where near as big as one of the main island’s districts.
It was here that I found the Vaporetto stop. Boarded the next one back for the main island. We travelled a different route back, so I got the opportunity to see more of the main island.
A massive wall with a very small entrance at the far left of the picture. Venice used to be a fort and if you have a fort, you’ll need strong defenses too!
The picture speaks for itself, in English as well! Hmm…I wonder…
Sentry towers, looking quite renovated in fact!
A few stops before San Zaccharia (the stop near San Marco Square), you will pass by the Giardini, the local gardens of Venice. Never got a chance to walk around there, but will put it on the “things to see on my next visit” list.
Reached the main island soon after and continued my sightseeing trip. As for Murano, seen enough and found it quite interesting. I’ll leave you with two massive piece of glass works that I found quite crazy and amazing.
I wonder how long it must’ve taken to make something like these. Though you are tempted to buy some glass, you’d have to be careful not to overdo it, these pieces are quite heavy and if you’re visiting Venice from overseas (somewhere other than Europe), you had better think twice about your baggage (and your wallet) before you buy 