Venetian Glass
Venetian-Glass.info provides the most comprehensive information about glass manufactured on the island of Murano and on the nearby main island of Venice. Venetian glass has a long, distinguished and interesting history and is undergoing something of a renaissance in the present day.
Look through the following sections to see which area - history, foundries, distributors, language, etc - is of most interest to you. And if there is something else you would like to see about Venetian glass on this site, then please get in touch and tell us what you would like to know.
We are especially happy to hear from people involved in the production and distribution of glass products. If you have any news, or if your company is not featured on our site and you think that it should be, please let us know. (Please note that we only list companies with an online presence AND a physical address which is readily available on their site.)
Murano - an island dedicated to glass
One
of the most vital parts of visiting Murano is getting there in the first
place! We have a detailed Murano page on the
waterbus connections and a simple map of the waterbus stops with churches
and the Murano Glass Museum ("Museo Vetrario").
We also have a page about the Glass Museum and a Venetian glass-blowing demonstration.
Murano and the history of glass
Murano
is rich in history and much of it is to do with the glass industry. Find
out how glassmaking came to the island, its ups and downs and some stories
about the foundries over the centuries on our Murano history page.
Directory of glass foundries
Many
of the Murano foundries have historic links to the foundries and families
listed in the Golden Book - others are newer masters of glassmaking. And,
nowadays, there are some located in Venice itself, as well as foundries
dedicated to special expertise of glass beads, lighting and mirrors.
Directory of glass distributors
Venetian
glass has always had an attraction far outside its local appeal and, as
in centuries past, there are distributors and importers who market the
glass across the world.
We have listed the importers and distributors in the USA, Canada, Europe and Australia for your convenience if you are looking for a more local source.
Glossary of Venetian glass terms
Some
of the technical terms used in Venetian glassmaking are based on historic
Italian phrases. We do our best to untangle the linguistic problems in
our glossary of Venetian glassmaking.
Venetian Glass Info