Murano
The making of crystal and glass in Venice dates back to the 10th century, when the secrets of the art were brought back from the East by merchants. Most of the glass making industry is now operated from Murano. It was moved there in 1291 to avoid burning the city from fire from the glass-working furnaces. Murano glass I sworld renowned and Venice has an exclusive on the glass and the methods used and it is a well guarded. It is recommended to purchase your glass directly on the island although smaller pieces can be found at reasonable prices in the side streets at the back of San Marco. Some of the pieces are incredible with prices to match, think of the red glasses Katherine Hepburn purchased in 1936. The same glass cost €600 a single glass nowadays. The real advantage to going to Murano is being able to watch the glass-workers in action.
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