Interesting places there are not only in the center of Venice, but also on the outskirts. If you drive (or sail), for example, 7 km from the center, then not far from the almost uninhabited island of Torcello you can see Burano - one of the most interesting islands. This island is distinguished from others by the bright colors of the houses. There is a small city block here, where about 3,000 people permanently live.
One version of why the houses are multi-colored is that the wives of local drinkers did this so that when they returned from pubs in the evening, they would not confuse their home with their neighbors. And those who were accustomed to getting drunk to the point of losing their memory painted their foreheads to match the color of the house, so that good people would know where to take the drunkard.
It is unlikely that this local joke is somehow connected with real events. But what is certain is that local authorities take the officially assigned color of each building very seriously, and it can only be changed with the permission of the municipality.
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Night and bright Burano
What is the island of Burano famous for?
This area transformed from a separate city into a district of Venice in 1923, as did Murano. For a long time now, this island has been one of the must-see destinations for travelers who have chosen tours to Italy with a stop in Venice. However, Burano is interesting not only for its rich color palette. There is something to see and something for the curious traveler to learn about:
- From the 16th to the 19th centuries, luxurious Venetian lace was woven here using technology borrowed from another area of the Mediterranean, from the island of Crete. In the 15th century, all the lacemakers were specially brought to this island and isolated from the rest of the world so that no one would learn the secrets of the technology of this needlework. But then the women of Venice decided that this work was too low-paid and hard, so they stopped doing it.
- Nowadays there are very few local needlewomen; Venetian lace is mainly woven in South-East Asia. Therefore, although they were created according to ancient models, they are not impeccable, but their prices are quite modest.
- There is a museum of the history of Venetian lace making here. Only there, on the first three floors of the building, you can see real Venetian lace from the 15th to 21st centuries, and on the fourth you can get acquainted with the tools with which they were created.
- This is the birthplace of the famous European composer Galuppi.
- The local Cathedral of San Martino is crowned by a “relative” of the Leaning Tower of Pisa - a 52-meter-high inclined campanile.
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View of the Cathedral of San Martino in Burano
Information for travelers:
Opening hours of the Lace Museum: closed on Tuesday, on other days in the summer (April-September) opens from 10.00. until 17.00, in winter (October-March) from 10.00. until 16.00.
What is the price: visit to the lace museum – 4 euros. A single ticket for a vaporetto boat costs 7 euros and is valid for 60 minutes.
How to get there:
On, which regularly run between Fondamenta Nuove station and the islands of Burano, Murano, San Michele and Torcello. You need line 1214, boats No. 41, No. 42 or No. 52. Vaporetto arrives to Burano every hour. From one boat to the next, you can easily walk around the entire island, take photos, buy souvenirs and have a snack.
A colorful and vibrant island located close to the city of Venice is the island of Burano. It is popular because all the buildings on the island are painted in such bright colors that from the coast, the view of Burano seems like a resurrected page from a coloring book, which a four-year-old child colored with all possible colors of pencils at the same time.
Brief description of Burano and Murano
Visit to the famous islands of the Venetian harbor: Murano and Burano, popular throughout the planet for their colorful views, unique history and craft customs. Let's look at each of them in more detail:
- Burano Italy. It looks very exotic and is so attractive to tourists. The spirit of the Middle Ages has been preserved here: low colorful houses, boats moored along water canals, narrow streets with well-groomed beautiful courtyards. Fishing was mainly done by men. Well, women, starting from the sixteenth century, began to weave lace. Now the island of Burano in Venice is a source of rare dresses made from Burano lace, which are adored by ladies of all ages.
- Murano in Italy(attractions). The city is much larger than Burano, consisting of five small islands. In the 13th century, all glass factories from Venice were moved to the island of Murano, Venice, in the hope of preserving all the secrets of glass production. The only attractions worth seeing are the in-house production of fragile samples and the finished masterpiece. In Murano (Italy) glass objects can be found to suit every taste and even color.
Location, how to get from Venice to Burano Island
- The island of Burano is considered a remote quarter of Venice, located eight kilometers from the city center of Venice.
- Burano consists of four small islands, which are separated by narrow channels - Rio Terranova to the east, Rio Pontinello to the west and Rio Zuecca to the south. In the past there was a fifth island - the canal leading to it was filled with earth and became Via Baldassare Galuppi. The street connected San Martino Sinistra and San Martino Destra.
- You can get from Burano to Venice in 40 minutes by water bus (vaporetto). The city of Burano is inhabited by about 4 thousand people. Traveling around the island is only possible on foot.
History and sights
Raids of wild tribes forced the local population to leave their native land en masse and find refuge in calmer and safer places from enemies. One of the safe places was the island of Burano in Venice. Why the town received such a name is not known for certain. But there are two versions. The first version is considered to be a settlement on the island of noble aristocrats with the surname Buriana. According to the second version, the city got its name from another island located eight kilometers to the south, it is called Buranello.
The development procedure in Venice - Burano made it a prosperous commune. But at that moment the city was not given the full opportunity to develop independently, because it obeyed and depended on the island of Torcello.
And only in the sixteenth century, at the instigation of local residents who were engaged in lace weaving, the town finally acquired serious importance in the development of the infrastructure of Venice. Women adopted the method of weaving lace from the residents of the island of Burano, Cyprus, which at that time controlled it. Buran or Venetian lace became so famous in a very short time that it began to be supplied to most cities in Europe. Only aristocrats could afford lace. In the eighteenth century, the local nobility ordered the opening of the first school, where everyone could learn the art of lace making. Nowadays, only a few craftswomen use traditional lace weaving techniques.
Colored city
Sights of Burano:
- The heart of the island of Burano is called the small house-museum of Signor Bepi Caramel (sweet seller). It was Bepi who was the first to paint his house in bright colors.
Additional Information! In past centuries, the city's population chose colors to paint their houses. Nowadays, you can repaint or paint your house only with the permission of the local authorities who choose the color to paint the house. This is done so that there are no houses of the same color nearby and fishermen at night from afar can recognize their house by color.
- The central square of Burano is named after the famous composer Baldassarre Galuppi.
- In the Buransky Museum of Lace, different types of lace weaving are displayed to visitors in quite large quantities.
- Famous church in San Martino. Has a single side entrance. The construction of the temple was never completed, but starting from the fifteenth century, architectural style, has not undergone any changes.
- The island will surprise you with its inclined or also called the “Leaning Tower of Pisa”. The height of the tower is 53 meters, and it was built in the seventeenth century.
- House-museum of the famous artist Gianfranco Rosso. With its walls, which are hung with many paintings, it will tell the history of the city of Burano: how the people lived, what they did, important events in the life of the population, etc.
Important! You can buy local lace on the island, but the prices are very, very high. There you can also buy Chinese or Taiwanese lace gifts from the Venetians, at very reasonable prices, made exclusively for tourists.
Trip to Burano
Entertainment and excursions
- A walk along the picturesque canals of Fondamenta Cao di Rio will delight you with the reflection of colorful houses in the water. There you can take beautiful and vivid pictures as a souvenir.
- There are a large number of cats on the streets of the city.
- You should definitely take part in the Venetian rowing. This is enough extreme sport. It is also an official sport in Venice. Venetian rowing competitions are often held where anyone can take part.
- You can try buranelli shortbread cookies. The cookies are quite hard. It is made in the shape of a donut or the letter S.
At night, the city becomes almost deserted, with the exception of restaurants and bars, where a few people gather, and you can drink delicious red wine in relative silence.
Note! Not far from the vaporetto stop you can buy hot snacks until the night. Most often they are made from fish and seafood.
It is also worth visiting during excursions:
- Mazzorbo Island is proud of its gardens and oldest vineyards. Wine from the island is exported all over the world. Also on the island is the Michelin-starred restaurant Venissa.
- Torcello Island quite small and quiet. There is located oldest temple Santa Maria Assunta. In the central square of the island there is the Torcello Museum, and next to it there is a huge sculpture - the “throne of Attila”.
- Located on the island San Servolo, convention center of Venice. There you can also visit an international university and museum.
Additional Information! Most often, museums on the islands are named after the names of the islands themselves on which they are located.
- Giudecca Island in Venice. It is famous for its beautiful ancient temples, which were built according to the designs of the famous architect Andrea Palladio. On the island is the medieval church of Santa Eufenia. Nowadays, there is also a women's prison here, where gardening is organized for prisoners, and on weekends you can buy local fruits.
- Lido islet has only 11 kilometers of sandbank. But it is quite famous for its large number of hotels. The beaches belong exclusively to hotels. Although there are two public beaches. It is on this island that the popular Venice Film Festival takes place, which attracts all the world's celebrities.
- Fans of mysticism and horror will like it Poveglia Island. It is abandoned and is used as a zone of isolation from all kinds of epidemics (in past centuries) and diseases. Throughout its centuries-old history, the island of Poveglia has been considered cursed. And all the institutions that were built and opened on the island closed just as quickly.
Burano in the evening
- Most visits to the island are carried out in the form of excursions of a couple of hours.
- There are only 4 hotels on the island of Burano.
- Don't visit Venice. in summer. It is very humid and hot at this time. There are also a huge number of tourists from all over the world, which will not allow you to fully enjoy all the beauty of this place.
- How much does a subscription cost? A vaporetto ticket costs approximately 7 euros. But it’s cheaper and more profitable to buy a subscription for 20 euros and ride 24 hours from place to place.*
It is worth spending your time and special attention on the island of Burano, its history, the museum of unusual things made of lace, as well as the bright colorful houses. Only here you can try delicious Italian dishes and local colorful wine.
*Prices are current as of September 2018.
I travel and take photographs a lot. In my reports, I try to tell about the country in such a way that you get the impression that you were there with me.
Burano and Murano - small islands close to Venice. One is famous for its colorful houses, and the second is famous throughout the world for its Murano glass. On the last day of the cruise we visited both of these islands...
Burano looks like a fairytale town. I don’t know what made its residents use such a bright palette when decorating their homes, but it all looks very exotic:
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There are no roads with cars here and all supplies are transported by boat and unloaded manually:
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The courtyards look as colorful as the canals:
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Wet underwear swaying in the wind adds color:
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Most doors and windows are curtained with fabric:
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Often the door behind the rag is open and the house is ventilated in this way:
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In addition to the colorful buildings, tourists are attracted to Burano by the Museum of Venetian lace and the Church of San Martino with a sloping 52-meter campanile:
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Murano is much larger in size than Burano. Previously, there was nothing on this island, but in the 13th century all glass production from Venice was moved here in order to avoid fires in the city itself and preserve the secrets of glass production:
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Murano canals are similar to Venice:
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There are several factories on the island where tourists are gladly allowed in, in the hope that they will buy something:
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Real masters put on shows for tourists. Watching a decanter or a horse grow from a red-hot, shiny pig wound around a tube is a fascinating sight. Hot glass is very viscous and resembles burnt sugar before it hardens.
First, the master blew into the tube and inflated a small bubble:
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After that, he clamped a piece of the flask near the tube with giant tweezers and made a neck out of it. It should be noted that the master constantly rotated the Turk so that the product did not have time to “sag”:
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Another master helped ours, dragging him additional pieces of hot glass from which handles or other decorations of the decanter would then grow:
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Literally in 2 minutes the product was ready:
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We put the tip on a special plate and the maestro continued his performance. This time he made a horse for us. First, he wound some glass around the tube and cooled it down:
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And then, constantly rotating the tube, he began to remove the horse from the glass pig:
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Unfortunately, photographs cannot convey the full mystery of the birth of a glass horse. Good that Marat I filmed the whole process and soon promised to post it on my blog:
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In the end they sold it to us for 10 euros. It’s a pity that then I saw the same ones in most souvenir shops in Murano for 6. The realization that I was deceived spoiled the memories of what I saw:
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Although the horse costs 10 euros, it is not 10 thousand, as we saw in Las Vegas:
There is a store at the factory, which is 5 times larger in area than itself and consists of a huge number of halls:
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Oh, how I liked the left vase and was ready to buy it until I saw the price. Of course, I knew that Murano glass was expensive, but not that expensive! How much do you think this vase costs? Answer at the end of the post:
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And this is the road to the airport. It's fun to come to the airport by boat:
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And this is just a guest post from a person who was impressed by the island of Burano and advises everyone who happens to be nearby to go there.
Burano is a fantastically beautiful small island located near Venice. If you have at least 2-3 days in Venice, then Burano, along with the island of Murano, is on the must-see list.
The island of Murano is on the way to Burano. Murano is a fairly large island famous for its Murano glass. Burano has very beautiful houses and, of course, the world-famous Burano lace. Ordinary tourists go first to Murano, then to Burano, in order to see both islands in one day.
We were not attracted to Murano glass, so we headed straight to Burano. It was decided to go in the late afternoon so that in the evening we could return to Venice and sit over a cup of crazy expensive cappuccino in the oldest cafe on Piazza San Marco under the enchanting sounds of one of the orchestras. This decision played into our hands. In the evening there were almost no tourists on Burano; started dating local residents, which poured out onto the streets immediately after the tourists left.
Burano is a stunning island. We walked around it from all sides and tried to find a note of falsehood in it. The island remained true to itself - still cheerful, colorful and endlessly attractive.
1. Wander around the entire wonderful island, carefully choosing routes that no one has taken before. Well, or didn’t walk for at least the next hour. It's impossible to get lost on Burano. You can walk through the entire island from embankment to embankment in any direction in just 7-10 minutes.
2. Sit on the sea promenade, enjoying the view of distant Venice. This is especially great to do at sunset.
3. Visit the world-famous lace museum. If you are a fan of lace, then you can score souvenir Buransky lace from 1 euro to several thousand euros per item. The main thing is to make sure that there is no “Made in China” inscription.
4. Find a monument to Galuppi Baldassare (“Buranello”), a famous Italian composer who staged court opera performances in St. Petersburg for several years in the 18th century, and also at that time created a significant number of choral works for the Orthodox Church.
5. Find the most unusually painted house on the streets of Burano. Hint, this house is multicolored.
6. Find swans swimming in the canals of Burano.
7. Taste sweets in a family-run confectionery, which is not hidden at all and is located right on the central canal.
Sunset on Burano. Venice is visible in the distance on the left.
Where to eat in Burano
A strategy for finding food places that usually pays off is to move a little away from tourist streets deep into the neighborhoods, and then depending on your luck. This strategy does not work on Burano, since the island is very small. One or two rows of houses - and there it is, the sea.
Walking along the main street of Burano, we discovered many cafes with... not very tasty smells. By this time, we had been tasting Italian cuisine for more than one week, so we trusted our sense of smell 100%.
But then we came across a cafe with beautiful-looking ice cream. But the prices turned out to be close to astronomical. Just a small bottle of water costs 4 euros.
As a result, I found a home-made confectionery, where an angry-friendly (that’s right) elderly gentleman sold very, very tasty sweets by weight and, as a result, confidently entered with his desserts into our top-3 best desserts in Italy. By the way, a 1.5 liter bottle of delicious water cost him only 2 euros.
The conclusion is simple: in Burano you need to have picnics right on the sea promenade, buying homemade sweets on the spot or bringing something with you.
How to get to Burano
Burano can only be reached by sea. With a tour or by water bus, Vaparetto.
Vaparetto route 12 departs from Fondamenta Nuove station. A 60-minute ticket costs 7 euros. Or it will be free if you bought a Venice Card. If you purchased your ticket on shore, be sure to present it to the magnetic reader on shore before boarding, otherwise the ticket will not be valid. The green light will light up - everything is fine. It is better to buy a magnetic card for each person, since only one trip is written off, no matter how many times you bring the card to the reader.
We still haven’t figured out how to write off two trips at once - all the instructions are in Italian.
You can also buy a ticket on the Vaparetto itself. The cost is the same. In this case, it is advisable to have small money with you, since a steward is still not a cash desk on the shore.
Fines for traveling without a ticket are said to be very impressive.
Vaparetto runs approximately twice an hour. Burano is the 3rd stop, which will be in about 40 minutes. Time will fly by instantly, because around you is the picturesque Venetian Lagoon. There is no need to worry, as the steward will diligently shout that here he is, Burano.
We came to Venice for bus station. From the station you can walk quickly to the pier in 25-30 minutes. If you go there by vaparetto, it may take longer and one ticket to Burano will not be enough (vaparetto routes No. 4.1, 4.2 and 5.2 to the Fondamenta Nuove stop). And you will need to buy additional tickets for 7 euros.
How does the lace museum work?
The museum is located in Plaza Gallupi.
Museum opening hours from April 1 to October 31: from 10-00 to 18-00 (tickets sold until 17:30).
Museum opening hours from November 1 to March 31: from 10-00 to 17-00 (tickets sold until 16:30).
The museum is closed on Mondays, December 25, January 1, May 1.
Tickets - 5 Euro. 3.5 Euro for children 6-14 years old, students under 25 years old, citizens over 65 years old.
If you are a citizen of Venice, then entry will be free for you.
How to leave Burano (a little secret)
Near Burano there is the island of Mazzorbo, which is connected to Burano by a bridge. If there is a long queue to board the vaporetto in Burano or you just don’t want to be in the crowd of people waiting, then in less than ten minutes you can walk to the pier in Matsorba (marked at any tourist map) and take the Vaparetto all alone.
When you get to the small island of Burano in Venice, you feel like you are in a fantasy fairy tale film. The fact is that all the houses here are painted in different colors, rich and bright. But it’s not just the colorful buildings that amaze: people come to admire the exhibits of the lace museum and look at the leaning tower of San Martino. Just wander through the picturesque streets with souvenir shops or have lunch at one of the best fish restaurants. Everything here is interesting and original.
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Until the 1st century, the island was part of the Ancient Roman Empire. People here lived and worked peacefully - men were mainly engaged in fishing, women - in housekeeping and raising children. But raids by barbarian tribes forced residents to leave their homes. They began to look for quieter places protected from enemies and settle in the most remote corners Venetian Lagoon. One of these places turned out to be an island located seven kilometers from Venice.
Why it was called Burano is not exactly established. It is assumed that representatives of a noble family with the same surname once lived here. Until 1923, the island had the status of a city, then it became one of the quarters of Venice, the area of the territory is slightly more than 21 hectares. Now it is permanently home to about 3,000 people. Located on islands separated by narrow channels that have access to the Venetian Lagoon.
Attractions
Since the XYI century, the city has specialized in the production of lace. Weaving technology, according to one version, was imported from the Eastern Mediterranean, from the island of Cyprus, which in those distant times was a colony of the Roman Empire. At first, ready-made lace products were brought from there, then the island’s residents learned how to weave themselves. But here they believe that lace was invented by the women of Burano.
In the warm season, they helped their husbands weave nets for fishing. In winter, trying to decorate their homes and clothes, they began to weave lace, which soon became famous throughout Europe. The peculiarity of Buransky weaving is that it is made using a unique technology - not with the help of bobbins, like, for example, Vologda, it is embroidered with needles.
One of the main attractions is dedicated to this craft - the lace museum “Museo dei Marletto” (“marletti” is how lace is called in Italy). It is located in Piazza Baldassare Galuppi in a former lace making school. The school closed in 1979 because young girls did not want to engage in painstaking and tedious work, and the ancient craft was becoming a thing of the past. In the museum interesting program, first they show a video about the history of Venetian lace and its production, then visitors can view an interesting collection of the best products.
On the island you can buy things made by local craftswomen, but the prices are very high. If it is not possible to purchase original lace, they buy a fake made in China at quite affordable prices. There is a romantic version of the emergence of lace craft. One fisherman was engaged to a girl whom he loved very much. One day he went fishing. At sea, a siren tried to seduce a handsome guy with her bewitching singing, but the young man did not succumb to the seductress’s charms. For his perseverance and loyalty, the siren gave him an amazing lace woven from sea foam. The Lace Museum is located in Piazza Baldassare Galuppi. Opening hours are from 10.00 to 18.00, ticket price is 5.5 euros for adults, and 4 euros for children from 6 to 14 years old, free for children under 6 years old.
On main square On the island there is another attraction that the locals are proud of - the Leaning Tower of San Martino. The tower began to be built in the 10th century with donations from townspeople. Inside, the walls are decorated with frescoes by the artist Tiepolo. Due to the collapse of the ground, the bell tower began to deviate from the vertical.
Now its slope is 1.8 m, it seems that it is about to fall. The tower is saved from final destruction by the wall of another building on which it rests. When the bell tower began to lean, the city administration decided to restore it and correct the situation, but residents asked to leave everything as it is. Now it is a symbol of the quarter, the most beautiful view It opens onto it from the canal bridges.
It only takes a few hours to explore the islands. And wherever the tourist goes, all roads will lead to the main square of Baldassare Galuppi (Piazza Baldaccarre Galuppi). The square is named after the famous native of this place - Galuppi. Now few people know his name, but in the 18th century he would have been a famous master of Italian comic opera, conductor and organist. He was respectfully nicknamed "buranello".
Grateful residents erected a monument to the composer on the square named after him. Italy is famous for its cuisine - everyone knows risotto, lasagna and pizza, as well as fish dishes. It is believed that the best fish restaurant in Venice is on the island of Burano. It is called “Al Gatto Nero Da Ruggero”. Excellent cuisine, but you need to know that the cost of one dish is from 16 to 30 euros. True, the portions are very large - two people can get enough of one.
What is the origin of the tradition of painting houses different colors?
When they started painting houses with multi-colored paint, historians cannot say; only funny legends talk about it. One of them, not very plausible, is very popular with tourists. The island is surrounded by sea; naturally, many of the inhabitants were sailors. Getting into hometown After long voyages, sailors went to taverns and other drinking establishments, where they heartily celebrated their safe arrival. In order for a sailor drunk to the point of insensibility to be brought home, the wives made a mark on their forehead that matched the color of the house. So the sailor was taken home.
Another version is that each clan or clan was obliged to paint their houses the same color. If noble people have a family coat of arms, then this is the color of the home. What was the root cause of the appearance of multi-colored buildings is not known for certain, but the tradition is maintained to this day. Now they do this to attract numerous tourists.
When visiting Venice, they usually come to Burano for a few hours to see the riot of colors. Now, according to the law, no one has the right, without special permission, to repaint a house a different color (even shutters, roof and doors) at their own discretion, only in agreement with the city administration.
Where is it and how to get there
The island can only be reached by sea by water bus - vaparetto from the Fondamenta Nuove pier, located in the center of Venice. Route No. 12 goes to the island, travel time is 45 - 50 minutes. Ticket price for 1 hour is 7 euros. You should know that trams depart from several houses in Venice. In order not to confuse the landing place and not go to another island, you need to look at the board where the route number and final stop are indicated.
Buy ticket You can do it on shore or on board with the conductor, their cost is the same. If tickets were purchased on shore, they must be presented to a magnetic device, otherwise they will be invalid. And the fines for unpaid travel in Italy are impressive. A trip to the island of Burano, as well as to other nearby islands of Venice, does not leave people indifferent - beautiful houses with traditionally hung laundry, obligatory flowers on the windowsills, a wonderful view of the Venetian lagoon - all this will be remembered for a lifetime.
