Welcome To The Glass Blowing Capital Of The World!

Of the many things that Venice Italy is known for, Murano blown glass is one of the most beautiful…here, glass is definitely “ART”:

As you can see, Murano glass is gorgeous, with vivid colors and designs – and yes, there are incredible glass chandeliers as well – we were told they take 15 Artists 4 months or more to create…so we of course had to see some in person!

Here’s a bit of a primer on Murano, and its location related to Venice.

Venice is a broad collection of islands in the Venice lagoon, and Murano is described this way by wikipedia:

Murano is a series of islands linked by bridges in the Venetian Lagoon, northern Italy. It lies about 1 mile north of Venice and measures about a mile across with a population of just over 5,000. It is famous for its glass making.

As this sculpture in the center of town shows, they are proud of their reputation and heritage.

Wikipedia adds:

Murano’s reputation as a center for glassmaking was born when the Venetian Republic, fearing fire and the destruction of the city’s mostly wooden buildings, ordered glassmakers to move their foundries to Murano in 1291. Murano glass is still associated with Venetian glass.

And is it! We headed out on a foggy morning – a water taxi taking a group of us from Venice to Murano – and this is how you leave Venice – by ducking!

Yes, taking the side “streets” out of Venice allow you to see some amazingly short bridges, and once away from the heart of the city, the lagoon opens up:

We took a tour boat across the lagoon, and it’s fascinating to speed past some areas of the Venice lagoon that have been abandoned to time:

We were told that some areas of the lagoon are barely six feet deep, and no more than 30-40 feet, so it’s a broad, flat coating of water over the land…and after 20 minutes or so, we pull up to the dock outside a glass factory:

The sun broke through and gave us a gorgeous welcome to the Signoretti glass blowing factory:

We headed inside, where we were led past the fiery glass furnaces – yes, you could feel the heat coming off of these ovens:

We were given a demonstration by the Artisans working that day: it all begins with a blob go molten glass rolled onto a steel pole –

What we saw next was truly spectacular: watch this video as a ball of hot glass is turned into a Stallion!

This was really fascinating to watch, a long-time art that continues today on an island in the Venice Lagoon! Also, these horses are for sale in the shop that is next door to the factory – because as you see, they can create one in just over two minutes!

Thanks to the Signoretti glass blowing factory and art gallery for showing us “art in action” – it’s a great trip over from Venice and a fantastic way to see art up close!

Speaking of art – and the magical beauty of Venice:

We had such a great time exploring this city by day and night – and just arriving in town – by boat – is truly magical as well…see that video here:

https://johnrieber.com/2018/10/06/welcome-to-venice-arriving-by-boat-to-the-worlds-most-magical-floating-city/

Let me know if you’ve had the chance to explore this floating city!

Categories: Art, Exotic Travel, Memoirs, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, Uncategorized

Tags: Adventure Travel, adventure travel in Italy, adventure travels, Alex Duda, amazing travel, amazing travel adventures, arriving in Venice by boat, Belond Orient Express trains, best glass blowing factories in Venice, best glass deisgns, best restaurants in Venice Italy, Cesare and Diane Benelli, crowded venice, diane binelli al covo, Europe train travel, exotic travel, glass blowing, gondolas in Italy, gondolas in Venice, gondolier facts, gondolier trivia, how to arrive in Venice Italy Venice Italy travel trivia, Italy, italy countryside, Italy travel, Italy travel tips, John Rieber, murano glass, Murano glass artist, murano glass blowing demonstrations, Murano glass factory Signoretti, Murano glass furnaces, Murano glass making demonstration video, murano italy glass, Murder on the orient express, murder on the orient express movie, Orient Express train travel, Orient Express train trivia, Rialto Bridge, Rialto Bridge Venice, San Marco Square, San Marco Square Venice, Signoretti glass factory tour Murano, the art of glass blowing, The Orient Express, The Orient Express train, the orient express train food service, train travel in europe, travel, travel adventures, travel on the Orient Express, traveling Europe, traveling europe by train, traveling italy by train, traveling through italy, venice, Venice best restaurants, Venice by boat, Venice glass blowing, venice italy, Venice Italy arrival by boat, Venice Italy gondolier trivia, Venice Italy tourism, Venice Italy travel info, Venice italy travel information, Venice Simplon Orient Express Trains, venice tourism