Murano and its history
During the demise and fall of the Western Roman Empire throughout the area there was a consistent growth in the population, as many Latin populations moved towards the coast to escape the marauding barbarians.
The first official document of the Republic of Venice that mentions Murano (Amuriana) dates from 846 AD. At that time, from an administrative point of view the island was governed by minor tribunes and then major tribunes until the 12th century, when it was given its own judges. This autonomy was revoked in 1171 when it was made part of the Venetian sestiere of Santa Croce, before being definitively restored in 1275 with a podestà that served 16-month terms in office. This meant that despite its close ties with Venice, Murano was able to govern itself with a Higher Council of 500 members (before being reduced in number, like that of Venice, in 1602, when access became hereditary), a Lower Council of 40 members (later reduced to 25), a treasury and a nuncio with the task of maintaining constant contact with the capital.
However, the fundamental date for Murano was 1291, when Venice’s Higher Council banned glassmaking in Venice for safety reasons (as it posed a fire and pollution risk). The glassworks were moved to the nearby island of Murano, and led to the island’s great fame, as the only place authorised for glassmaking in the Republic’s territory. This exclusive situation allowed the craftsmen to become rapidly famous across Europe, by creating priceless works of art whose sale was guaranteed by Venice.
In addition to being an important glassmaking centre, Murano also became a holiday destination for many of Venice’s aristocratic families, who erected luxurious villas and stunning gardens that became a meeting place for artists and writers. Academies (citizens’ associations that were dedicated to studies of various kinds, above all literary studies) were established and attended by a number of illustrious names: Pietro Bembo, Giovanni Della Casa, Aldo Manuzio). The many wealthy convents also made Murano an important place of spiritual retreat.
Murano reached its golden age in the 15th and 16th centuries: it had 30,000 inhabitants (today there are only 5600), 17 churches, dozens of glassworks, a number of fairs and workshops and a great many important international personalities, who went there to familiarise with and watch the glassblowing.
Through the centuries to the 1700s, Murano’s fate was coupled with that of the Republic of Venice: the struggles against the other Italian regional states and European powers, the everlasting battle against Genoa and the victorious wars against the Ottomans, not to mention the plague that decimated the population. The Republic of Venice’s crisis reached a climax in the 18th century when, in 1797, it fell to Napoleon and was subject to foreign rule. Murano, like Venice, was occupied by the French first and the Austrians later, which also generated changes in its urban layout: many churches (today there are just 4 left) and convents were demolished to make way for houses or glassworks, as were gardens and other historical buildings.
Following the third war of independence (in 1866, when Veneto was annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy) Murano experienced a period of rebirth. Thanks above all to the work of Abbot Vincenzo Zanetti (one of the key figures in 19th century Murano, who together with the Mayor Antonio Colleoni founded the Glass Museum and glass design School), the city undertook to promote its history, culture and glassblowing, which once had again started to be exported all over the world.
In 1924, Murano lost its independence as a municipality and once again became part of the Municipality of Venice.
