Description of the attraction
Burano is an island located 7 km from Venice and under its administrative control. You can get here in just 40 minutes by vaporetto waterbus. According to the latest census, about 3 thousand people live in Burano.
In fact, Burano is made up of four separate islets separated from each other by narrow, only 10 meters wide, canals - Rio Pontinello in the west, Rio Zuecca in the south and Rio Terranova in the east. Once there was also a fifth island, but its canal was covered with earth and turned into Via Baldassare Galuppi, connecting the islets of San Martino Destra and San Martino Sinistra.
Probably the first inhabitants of Burano were the Romans, who were replaced in the 6th century A. D. people came from the city of Altino. There are two versions of the origin of the name of the island. According to one of them, the island is named after the old Burian family. On the other - Burano got its name from the small island of Buranello, located 8 km to the south.
Despite the fact that soon after colonization the island turned into a prosperous commune, it was administratively dependent on Torcello and did not have the same privileges as Murano. Burano acquired particular importance only in the 16th century, when local women started weaving lace - the Venetians brought the technology of its manufacture from the Cyprus controlled by them. After a very short time, Buran lace began to be exported to other European countries, and it conquered the aristocratic world. But already in the 18th century, the decline of the craft began, which could revive only after 1872, when a school for the production of lace was opened on Burano. This craft exists to this day, although only a small number of craftswomen use traditional weaving techniques today. Despite this, Buran lace is considered one of the symbols of Venice.
Another "highlight" of Burano is its small multi-colored residential buildings, so pleasing to the eye of the tourist. An interesting fact - if today any resident of Burano wants to paint his house, first he will have to send a corresponding petition to the administration and wait for permission to be received indicating certain colors that can be used for painting!
Among other attractions of Burano, it is worth visiting the Venetian Lace Museum, the only local church of San Martino with a 52-meter-high inclined bell tower and paintings by the great Gianbattista Tiepolo, and Piazza Baldassare Galuppi, named after the composer born here.
