Burano e Mazzorbo

Burano immediately visible for the leaning bell tower of the Church of San Martino, is a small fishermen island known for its multi-coloured houses and for the “Burano lace” created by the expert women of the island. It seems that the extraordinary ability of lace makers still originated in the Middle Ages; However, thanks to the dogaressa Morosina Morosini who in the sixteenth century understood the potential of this art and promoted its development, exporting craftsmanship throughout Europe. In the first half of the nineteenth century, Burano embroidery represented an economic income equal to the primary income from fishing. For this reason, the school for embroiderers was founded which still today has its headquarters in Palazzo del Podestà. Lace is still internationally famous and still today the tradition is passed on from mother to daughter. On the island there is the “Lace Museum” which exhibits works of great value and offers the opportunity to observe the lace makers at work. Thanks to its enchanting and gaudy colours in the first decade of the 1900s the artists Umberto Poggiali, Gino Rossi and Pio Semeghini were so inspired that Burano became a small Tahiti.

In Burano you can choose from typical fish restaurants overlooking the lagoon or enjoy a walk tasting the famous “Venetian cicchetti”. Before embarking, we suggest you buy the “bussolai”, typical biscuits of the island’s tradition.

Mazzorbo is one of the quietest inhabited islands in the Venetian lagoon. It is a small secluded refuge, connected to the island of Burano by a wooden bridge called “Ponte Longo” (long bridge). It is a silent island with expanses of cultivated land that divide the few scattered houses, a completely different place from nearby Burano, suitable for long and relaxing walks. Like Torcello, Mazzorbo in ancient times had an important commercial role and was the site of rich palaces, monasteries and numerous churches, divided into five parishes and enriched with works by great artists including those by Paolo Veronese. Currently, very little remains of these wonders; the Church of Santa Caterina is worth a visit, originally built in the eighth century and later became part of a Benedictine convent. The church was renovated in the 14th century, with Romanesque and Gothic touches, and rearranged again two centuries later. Over the last two hundred years, new restorations have been carried out, but the church has maintained an ancient atmosphere. The bell tower of the church houses the oldest bell in Venice dating back to 1318.

Today the real peculiarity of the island are its cultivations: an ancient vine, the Dorona, which produces a golden wine, and which was the most loved by the Doges of Venice. After a period of abandonment, however, in recent years the rows of vines have returned to production, offering connoisseurs of good wine an interesting stop to taste a precious nectar among the splendid views of Mazzorbo at sunset. Last curiosity: the preferred means of transport in Mazzorbo is the bicycle (like the other islands it is car-free).