Glassmaking is the most important and ancient art practiced in the lagoon and has been for hundreds of years one of the most important commercial industries of the Republic of Venice. The first written record of a master glassmaker in Venice – the bottle maker Dominicus Phiolarius, dates back to the year 982. However, archaeological research suggests that glass production was practiced in the Lagoon, on the island of Torcello, even before the foundation of the Republic. Venice was known and commercially successful for the production of glass, especially for the processing of mirrors and bottles, before all the furnaces were moved from the city center and concentrated on the island of Murano in the year 1291. Although there were already furnaces in Murano, there was at the time a strong and growing concentration of furnaces and glass workshops in “Riva Alto” and Dorsoduro in the center of Venice.

The Government of the Republic immediately recognized the potential importance of the thriving glass industry, and acted to protect and promote it. Between the 12th and 13th centuries, the expanding Republic of Venice negotiated free trade agreements and established protected trade colonies throughout the Mediterranean, the Holy Land, and the East. The glass trade was rapid and in the year 1271 the Grand Councillor acted to protect the glass industry domestically, prohibiting the import of foreign glass into Venice and prohibiting foreign glassmakers from working within the city. Only 20 years later, an ordinance was issued that obliged the transfer of all the furnaces in the city to the island of Murano.

It is often stated that the reason for the move was the most obvious one of preventing fires in the populous city center, but it is certain that the ease of keeping trade secrets is also greater when everyone who knows about it is concentrated on an island in a lagoon.

The transfer of all the furnaces to the island of Murano in 1291 created, 500 years before the Industrial Revolution in Europe, the first industrial zone in the world. While Murano glass is a luxury product today, for several cents Murano has maintained a monopoly on the production of commercial glass in Europe.

The imposition of the transfer of the furnaces to Murano, and therefore also that of the glassmakers and their respective families, was accompanied by a series of incentives and at the same time restrictions instituted by the Republic of Venice. The master glassmakers achieved a high social status, well above that of other craftsmen of the time. The daughters of the Masters of Glass were allowed to marry the Venetian nobility. Master glassmakers were also allowed to carry a sword and enjoyed immunity from prosecution. These were incentives not only directed at convincing master glassmakers to move to the island, but were also an encouragement for their children to continue glassmaking.

Finally, these measures also served to preserve even better the secrets of the workmanship, not only on the island but also within the families themselves. On the other hand, the Republic was so jealous of the secrets of Murano glass that master glassmakers were forbidden to leave Venice without express permission from the Republic. Masters who allowed themselves to leave the city without permission were banished from the guild on their return and could no longer work with glass. The export of the secrets of Murano glass processing abroad was considered a crime punishable by death.