The Venetian Lagoon: Torcello & Murano

Monday, February 23, 2015



If you're considering visiting Venice (and by all means you should, because it's such a picturesque and interesting and beautiful town with lots of stuff to do!), then don't miss out on some other gems of the Venetian Lagoon. I mentioned the Burano island earlier on the blog, as the cutest place in Europe there is, but there are two other islands you could pay a visit to.

Torcello

Torcello was inhabited in the 5th century and by the 10th century it was the mostly populated island in the lagoon, a more powerful political and trading center than Venice. But the lagoon around the island gradually became a swamp from the 12th century onwards, which brought malaria-carrying mosquitos. The population had to leave the island, so today its full-time population consists of only 10 people! It's quite still island, and also the greenest in the lagoon. Here you might relax in the silence and visit some of the (very) old churches. Trivia: Ernest Hemingway spent some time on the island in 1948, writing parts of Across the River and Into the Trees.


Murano

Well this one I'm sure you've heard of! Glass has been made in Venice for ages, but in 13th century the Venetian Republic ordered glassmakers to move to Murano due to risk of fires - buildings in Venice were mostly wooden. Back then glassmakers were real VIPs, they were allowed to wear swords (swag right?) and their daughters could marry into the wealthiest Venice families. These guys held a monopoly on high-quality glassmaking for centuries, and they developed many techniques used today, like milk glass, glass with threads of glass, multicolored glass... Glassmaking is still the main industry on the island, and you can visit a glass museum or attend a demonstration and see how glass is made. I couldn't believe how quickly they make all those figurines and chandelier pieces! The little elephant below took only about 5 minutes to make.


Would you considering visiting these islands if going to Venice?

Have a nice week!

Love, Tihana


2 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos! I love it! I love sculpture and murano glass, great post! :)

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  2. Thank you so much for your kind words! Have you been to these islands and/or Venice, or do you have it in mind? :)

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