Murano Island – A Glassmaker’s Paradise since 1291, this tiny Venetian island has been the home of Venice’s glassmaking industry. Glass production was moved to Murano Island from the main part of Venice because its production posed quite a fire hazard (Note: the buildings in Venice were constructed mostly of wood at this period in history and the extreme heat that is required to make glass liquid so as to mold and shape it obviously caused the Venetians some concern).

Soon enough, Murano Island became quite a hot spot for glass production indeed. Glassmaking has quite an exalted tradition in Venice. It is an art form, after all. In the 14th century, the daughters of Murano’s biggest glassmaking families were allowed to marry into the Venetian nobility.