History of Glass

A centuries-old love story

Who invented the glass?

From the 5th millennium BC, in ancient Egypt, the process of manufacturing the “glass paste” evolved, made by heating the silica (i.e. the desert sand with which stones are covered which, after being pierced, are sold and they barter).

It seems that the Phoenicians discovered this material one night, lighting a fire on the beach and finding around it drops of glass formed with fire, sand and silicon. They were also the ones to invent the blown glass technique and to refine its composition, creating everyday objects that began to be indispensable for the population of the Mediterranean.

The arrival of glass in the Venetian Republic

The Republic of Venice, which in the first millennium after Christ extended its power over a very large region, maintains trade relations with various populations of the Mediterranean and manages to bring this art to its capital, where expert masters dedicated themselves to its elaboration.

From the year 1100 it was necessary to move the ovens to the nearby island of Murano due to the risk of fires. Thus the fame of Murano was born and grew where families still pass on, from generation to generation, recipes and secrets that no one in the world has been able to match.

Murano is thus transformed into the world capital of glass, forming an inseparable pair with it.

Chemical composition of glass

Glass is a hard, brittle, transparent, amorphous inorganic material that is used to create a variety of products. It is obtained by melting silicon sand, sodium carbonate and lime at 1500°C. There are infinite types of glass according to its use; the different colors of Murano glass, for example, are obtained with the use of particular minerals combined with the basic composition.