ACCESSIBLE MURANO AND BURANO – VENETIAN ISLANDS
TOUR
Accessible Venetian Islands tour: Murano and Burano discover ancient churches, colorful houses and glass workshops.
- Historical interest 100%
- Fun 90%
Discover the two most famous islands in Venice’s lagoon: “Murano and Burano”
Among the many islands that make up the “Venice’s lagoon” Murano and Burano are those not to miss when visiting the lagoon. Here you can immerse yourself in centuries-old activities, like artistic glass blowing in Murano and lace’s creation in Burano....
Murano, made up of 9 islands and crossed by “the Grand Canal”, is the biggest island of Venice’s lagoon. It houses the accessible (from the secondary entrance) “Church of Santa Maria e San Donato”, one of the most ancient churches of the lagoon, belonging to the VII century. The church, built in a Venetian-Byzantine style, stands out for its XII century’s mosaic floor, marble-made, which portrays vegetal and animal figures in biblical references.
Ten minutes far from here, there is also the accessible “Church of San Pietro Martire” (accessible from the lateral side), where it is possible to admire paintings from the famous “Tintoretto, Giovanni Bellini and Paolo Veronese”.
However, what gives fame to Murano all around the world is, undoubtedly, its glass production and nowadays this activity represents Murano’s main economical source. This practice, hailing from the Middle East (mainly from Egypt and Syria), arrived in Venice following the trade routes of the latest, and it is said that this tradition dates back from the X century, when a man wrote a letter defining himself as a “glass craftsman”. Wandering across the streets of Murano, you can bump into several workshops where it is possible to witness the creation of glass objects directly from the raw material,. Murano hosts the accessible Murano Glass Museum (which is not included in the tour), which was founded in 1861 and includes more than 4000 items, between Phoenician artifacts, goblets, mirrors and kaleidoscope lenses.
Burano is an accessible island located in the north of Murano and has about 3000 inhabitants. The name Burano comes from Porta Boreana, which is the name of one of the six doors that enclosed the old city of Altino (the city that the first inhabitants of the Venice lagoon were forced to leave due to the barbarian invasions). Two different features mark Burano: lace and painted houses. With the aim to hand down the tradition as well as help the economy of the island, “in 1872 the first lace school” was founded which today hosts the accessible Lace Museum (not included in the tour), founded in 1981. When visiting Burano it is likely probable to find across the city small shops where old women show visitors how to make lace products.
According to many international magazines, Burano is in the top 10 most colorful places in the world. In fact, its houses are painted with intense colors and an old legend says that seamen used these colors to identify their houses when fishing in the lagoon. Tourists can admire these colorful houses from a panoramic spot called Tre Ponti.
Highlights and what's included
- Duration: Half Day
- Places of interest: Venice
- Murano
- Burano
- Exclusivity: All our tours are PRIVATE, not sharing with other guests
- Languages: All languages available on request
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