Among the great attractions of Piazza San Marco, we surely must include the shops. One of the most beautiful ones is the Galleria d'arte Markus, a garden of glass where the items are not furnishings or "fine things" but forms of poetry, real sculptures where modern design blends with the age-long skills of master glass craftsmen. Markus is a genuine art gallery specializing in works of glass - the material daughter of Venice that so fantastically imitates her light, her transparent atmosphere and the fluidity of her waters.

From 1949 onwards, the premises became a sales outlet for Conterie, then a shop owned by Ernesto Seguso, brother of the famous Archmede. Taken over in 1970 by Markus srl, the premises were completely rennovated and became the first shop in Venice specializing in sculptures in glass and contemporary design.

In the course of the years it has hosted all the great Murano masters: Livio Seguso, Ermanno Nason, Loredano Rosin, Angelo Seguso, Licio Zanetti and Alfredo Barbini.

Today it has the exclusive for works by Dino Rosin , Pino Signoretto, Simone Cenedese and Walter Furlan who stand out for their expressive originality, welling from a Venetian glass art tradition still as sublime as ever.

It is almost as though these artists are modelling light itself, shaping the rainbows in a kaleidoscope.

A visit to this extraordinary "garden of glass" is an experience only Venice can guarantee.