Murano is an island in the Venitian lagoon, it lies about a mile north of Venice and is famous for its glass making and particularly lampworking. Murano was settled by the Romans, then from the sixth century by people from Altino and Oderzo.
First the island prospered as a fishing port, and a center for trade, from the 11th century, it began to decline as islanders moved to Dorsoduro, in 1291 all the glassmakers in Venice were forced to move to Murano due to the risk of fires. In the following century, exports began, and the island became famous, first for glass beads and mirrors, "aventurine glass" was invented on the island, and for a while murano was the main producer of glass in Europe.

The island later became known for chandeliers, although decline set in during the 18th century. Glassmaking is still the island's main industry. Stained glass and glass blowing were extensively developed in Egypt and Assyria and was brought to the fore by the Romans, and had its greatest days in European Cathedral building in stained glass-rose-windows.

Murano Glass has not kept pace with production, but is still home to more glass masters than any other single place on earth. The Venetian glass is a type of glass made in Venice (murano) Italy, world renowned for being colorful, elaborate and skillfully made, many of the important characteristics of these objects had been developed by the 13th century.

When the Venetian glass industry moved to murano, Byzantine craftsmen played a role in the development of Venetian glass, an art for which the city is well-known for. By the 16th century Venetian artisans had gained even greater control over the color and transparency of their glass, and had mastered a variety of decorative techniques. Despite efforts to keep Venetian glassmaking techniques within Venice, they became known elsewhere, and Venetian-style glassware was produced in other Italian cities and other countries of Europe.

Over the years Murano Glass beads have been used in a wide variety of handmade jewelry, some of which can be seen at the Handmade Jewelry section at MostOriginal.com.

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