Murano

On the way to Murano the boat stops at Cimitero, the cemetery of Venice, created when Napoleon declared that it was unhygienic to bury people on Venice itself. The cemetery forbids cameras so I could not photograph some of the amazing tombstones. The church on the island is beautifully decorated in gold mosaic and beautiful glass. The cemetery is sorted into sections for priests, nuns, military, children etc. Some tombstones even include photographs of the families buried in the tombs. There are a few famous people buried here like Igor Stravinsky (Modernist composer) and Diaghalev (Russian dancer/choreographer)


Visiting Murano is something I have been looking forward to ever since I heard I was accepted into the YSSP. Why you ask? I do a lot of beadwork at home, mostly with cheap Chinese glass but every once in a while I get to use Venetian glass beads as a signature bead. These beads are truly beautiful works of art and to come to the place where glass-making is famous is truly awe-inspiring.


Murano shops are an odd mixture of the very snooty and the very friendly. Glass studios with famous designers practically check your credit limit at the door and look loathe to serve the common tourist. The smaller 1 man shops and workman's benches are happy for you to potter about and look at their handmade pieces. I fell in love with a glass statue of a dance couple done in clear glass with swirls of blue and purple throughout. This colouring seems to be a signature of some designer as most of the work was in these colours. If it was anywhere near my price range I would have bought it but at 2800 euros I had to leave it in the showroom :(


The Glass Museum wasn't worth seeing my opinion. It shows the progression of glass-making over the centuries starting from the 1st century AD by the Romans to modern day pieces. The most impressive items were the centrepieces and chandeliers (which you cannot photograph).


Murano has an amazing array of glass art pieces scattered throughout the island of which I managed to capture a few (I found 6 official pieces, they may be more). One I didn't have a chance to photograph was of a series of birds all in various stages of settling on a branch.