Murano

Isle Venice, Italy

Murano is a series of islands all linked by bridges in the Venetian Lagoon. It's located about 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) north of Venice and measures about 1.5 km (0.9 mi) across with a population of just a few thousand inhabitants. It is world-renowned for its glass making.

Murano was a commercial port as far back as the 7th Century, and by the 10th Century it had grown into a flourishing trading center with its money, police force, and commercial aristocracy. Then, in 1291, the Venetian Republic ordered glassmakers to move their shops to Murano because the glassworks represented a flame danger in Venice, whose structures were mostly wooden at the time.