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The Glass of Venice
Shopping for Venetian glass and Murano chandeliers—plus other classic Venice gifts like lace and Carnival masks
It's estimated the there are over 1,000 glass shops in the San Marco district alone. That's a lot of glasswares. You'll find examples of this triumvirate of Venetian craft specialties plastered everywhere about town, in every little hole-in-the-wall shop and big, touristy boutique.
Quality varies tremendously, and many of the items are actually machine-produced or crafted anywhere from Eastern Europe to Taiwan, but the best rule of thumb is simply to buy it if you like it and to blazes with its provenance.
However, if you're looking for the real thing, or are buying with a collector's eye, you'll have to shell out big bucks to ensure quality.
Here are some of the top emporia for each art, where every piece on display is guaranteed hand crafted by Venetian artisans.
The Main Drag of Shopping
For a simple shopping stroll along one of Venice's premier (and priciest) avenues, head out of Piazza San Marco at the clock tower onto Le Mercerie. This route, lined with fancy boutiques and souvenir shops, is a series of streets whose names change constantly—but are always prefaced with the word "mercerie"—and that together thread all the way to the Rialto Bridge.
For glass, visit Venini, Piazzetta dei Leoncini (off the left flank of Basilica di San Marco), Pauly & Co, Ponte Consorzi (just behind the Doge's Palace, although they also have boutique shops on Piazza San Marco), or Salviati, on Piazza San Marco.
For lace your dealer is Jesurum, on Mercerie del Capitello.
At Carnevale (Carninval) time, don papier-mâché or leather masks made by the Laboratorio Artigiano Maschere, at Barbaria delle Tole, in the Castello district.
Incidentally, the most traditional craftsmen of Venetian glass are located on the island of Murano, while the ladies who tat the best lace are on the island of Burano, both described in the "Outlying Islands" section.
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This material was last updated December 2006. All information was accurate at the time.
Copyright © 1998-2008 by Reid Bramblett. All rights reserved.
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