MURANO walking tour: a maze of beautiful glass works of art near Venice (Unesco)

The guided tour of Murano will make you discover a complex of small islets divided by suggestive canals crossed by small boats or gondolas and connected by bridges that make the island a little Venice. We start with the guided tour from the small island of San Donato and walking through the alleys we can admire the gothic façade of Palazzo Giustinian, the historic palace of the bishops of Torcello and now home to the Glass Museum which contains 700 years of glass history.

Venetian masters. Not far away we visit the Basilica of Saints Maria and Donato, or the Cathedral of Murano, the main place of Catholic worship on the island and a superb example of Venetian-Byzantine art. Inside are the remains of San Donato and a series of arches and columns enriched with splendid capitals make the church a real jewel. The large square in front is enriched by the bell tower that stands out over the whole square and the elegant Istrian stone well decorated with an arch on each side, small columns and sails on each corner.

We continue our tour walking through the alleys where different glassworks meet with inside the furnaces used by the artisans to melt the glass and through the blowing process to give life to the precious creations that have made Murano unique in the world for the quality of its products. . The tour continues to the island of San Pietro crossing Ponte Longo overlooking the Grand Canal of Murano and we find ourselves in front of one of the most beautiful and famous buildings in all of Murano, the Palazzo da Mula, now the Town Hall, with a beautiful façade in style Venetian Gothic. We move to visit the Church of San Pietro Martire, the ancient building built in the mid-fourteenth century in the Gothic style and rebuilt in the 1500s due to a fire, in the Renaissance style.

This beautiful church houses precious paintings by Bellini and Veronese, as well as a painting attributed to Tintoretto and the magnificent Murano glass chandeliers. Crossing another bridge we arrive at the last islet we will visit, that is the Island of Santo Stefano, dominated by the Clock Tower which has become a reference point for all the islanders.

The guided tour ends by moving to the outer part of the island of the Venetian lagoon where the lighthouse makes the enchanting view even more panoramic. 35 meters high and made up of large stone boulders, it is characterized by high black stripes to optimize visibility on foggy days.

Included:

• Licensed tour guide

Not included:

• Food and drinks
• Museum tickets (optional)
• Transfer service

What to bring:

• Comfortable shoes
• Water
• Sun hat on hot days

Meeting point:

• Riva Longa – Isola S. Donato (water bus stop Museum – Murano)