The Islands of Venice

Burano.

Burano is the Venice Lagoon island famous for its typically colourful houses and its artisan lace-making tradition (an activity that dates back to the 16th century). Just over three thousand people live there and it can be reached from Venice, and from the Island of Murano, by a boat that also offers connections with Torcello and Treporti. The island’s only church is the Cathedral of San Martino with its square section bell tower, which leans due to the slide in the land on which it was erected in 1600. Baldassarre Galuppi, known as il Buranello, an 18th century composer, has the only square on the island dedicated to him, with a statue in his honour. Try the typical Burano sweets known as bussolà buranelli, which come in various sizes, but always have a ring shape.

Murano

Murano, situated North-East of Venice, is an almost entirely urbanised island with around 6000 inhabitants. It is made up of seven minor islands divided by larger and smaller canals linked by bridges.
The island is world famous for its glass craftsmanship. Glass factories and furnaces have been present on the island since ancient times. In fact, many moved here from Venice around the year 1000 to avoid the risk of setting fire to the city centre, which at that time had mainly wooden buildings. Don’t miss a visit to the famous glass workshops and, especially, to the Glass Museum, which contains exhibits by ancient Master Glassmakers right up to the present day. Some of the island’s most important buildings include the Church of the Saints Maria and Donato, built in the 7th century in Venetian-Byzantine style and the Church of St. Peter the Martyr, erected in 15th-16th century and containing fine works by Paolo Veronese and Giovanni Bellini.

Torcello

Torcello, an island situated in the Northern area of the Venice Lagoon has today less than a hundred inhabitants, even though it was one of the first islands on the Lagoon to be inhabited between the 5th and 6th centuries and numbered 50,000 residents during the 16th century. From 638 to 1104 it was the home of the Bishop of Venice. Together with Mazzorbo and Burano the island was the centre of Venetian commerce until this transferred to the centre of Venice. Pestilence, malaria and its distance from Venice caused, over the course of the years, an unstoppable depopulation and decline. The ruined buildings were dismantled to provide stonework for Venice’s architectural development. Some artistic and architectural marvels remain as a testimony of the island’s glorious past, like the Church of Santa Fosca and the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta with its marble mosaics.