Murano

Murano is a cluster of seven small islands linked by bridges in the northern lagoon, about ten minutes by vaporetto from Venice, and has been the centre of Venetian glassmaking for over seven hundred years.

The industry moved here by decree in 1291. The official reason was fire: glass furnaces burned continuously, and Venice was built largely of timber. The effect, whether or not it was the intent, was to concentrate every glassmaker in the Republic on one controllable island, where techniques could be guarded and workers were forbidden to leave.

The Museo del Vetro, in the 17th-century Palazzo Giustinian, sets out that history from Roman glass onward and is the most useful first stop for making sense of what the workshops along the canals are actually doing.

The other major building is Santi Maria e Donato, a Veneto-Byzantine basilica whose fabric spans the 7th to 12th centuries. Its mosaic floor of 1141, patterned with animals and geometry, is among the finest in the lagoon, and behind the altar hang four large bones traditionally described as a dragon's -- in fact almost certainly whale ribs, presented as relics of St Donatus.

Not everything sold as "Murano glass" around Venice is actually made on the island -- a significant share of cheaper souvenir glass is imported from elsewhere and sold under the same name. Buying directly from a workshop on Murano itself, ideally one that's willing to show its furnace, is the more reliable way to get the real thing.

Murano is reached by vaporetto from several points in Venice, most directly from Fondamente Nove.

• Getting there: a roughly 10-15 minute vaporetto ride from Fondamente Nove, or a longer route from San Marco or the train station.
• Getting around: the island is small enough to explore on foot, with most workshops and the Museo del Vetro within easy walking distance of the main vaporetto stop.
• Demonstrations: several workshops offer live glassblowing demonstrations, some free and some ticketed, alongside their showrooms.