Murano Glass Museum

This guide to the Murano Glass Museum in Venice starts with the 1391 order that moved every glass furnace in the city onto this island, ostensibly to stop fires but really to keep watch on the craftsmen inside them. You'll hear how Murano's glassmakers became a gilded, sword-wearing elite forbidden to leave, and the harsh penalties Venice held over anyone who tried. It traces the collection itself back to a mayor and a glass-obsessed priest who salvaged what remained of the island's past after the republic fell.