MURANO ISLAND
The legend says that in 77 A.D. a few Phoenician merchants, stranded on the Mediterranean coast, in order to light a fire used some of the blocks of "Natron" (soda)stocked in the ship. These blocks, due to the heat, melted together with the sand of the beach changing into streams of a transparent, yet solid material.
As a matter of fact, the discovery of glass dates back to an even remoter period than the age of Phoenicians: indeed, this material was already used by Egyptians, Syrians, Romans, Byzantines and Venetians.
Venetian glass, ranging , is made on the nearby island of Murano and has been since 1291, when the glass industry was moved out of the city because of fire danger. Murano, though as single-mindedly oriented to the tourist trade as Venice itself, has its own charms and is well worth visiting.The tradition of the Maestri Vetrai has been handed down from father to child till today, and it is still jealously preserved by the Venetian government, which has always protected it.
Everything made of Murano glass - from the murrine to the filigrees, from the chandeliers to the chalices - is the result of work, imagination, discoveries and inventions bound together with a continuous thread which goes from the Middle-Age to the Renaissance, right up to us.
There are two main ways of getting to Murano: by the public water bus called the vaporetto, or by private water taxi. . Also at the reception you can book a tour to the island of Murano by private taxi and see how they blows the glass ,in a glass factory .Also ,you can take the vaporetto and get out at the stop marked "Museo." (Murano is larger than you’d suppose, with its own canals and bridges and several vaporetto landings.) This will bring you within a few hundred yards of the Museo Vetrario, the glass museum. What you’ll see and learn there will help you understand what you see on the rest of your visit.
Next door is the church of Santi Maria e Donato-- With an imposing apse facing the canal, the church was first built in the 9th century and often rebuilt and restored. The inside is chastely romanesque, with a ceiling of exposed beams and a lovely mosaic madonna against a field of gold. But the best part is the 12th-century floor, done in an exuberant mosaic including depictions of peacocks, griffins, eagles, and other marvels. . If it’s not closed, drop in on the church of . Another Romanesque church, this one has lovely chandeliers and a glass baptismal font. It’s even more remarkable, though, for its Bellini and Veronese paintings. But best of all is the sacristy, reached through a door in the north wall, a small room lined with near life-size wood carvings of personages such as Caesar, Pontius Pilate, Nero, and Socrates. Unfortunately, there’s no indication of who’s who; but the works themselves are remarkably detailed and lifelike.