Page 158 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Venice & The Veneto

156  VENICE AREA B Y AREA

E Museo del Merletto 3 San Francesco
Piazza Baldassare Galuppi. Tel 041 730 del Deserto
034. Open 10am–6pm Tue–Sun (Nov–
Mar: to 5pm). Closed 1 Jan, 1 May, Access via private boat from the
25 Dec. & ∑ museomerletto. landing stage in Burano. Visits to
visitmuve.it the island: usually 9–11am, 3–5pm
Tue–Sun (bookings 347 99 22 959,
The Buranese are fishermen and www.lagunaflaline.it).Monastery: Tel
lacemakers by trade. Visitors can 041 528 68 63. Donations welcome.
still see the men scraping their ∑ sanfrancescodeldeserto.it
boats or mending nets, but
lacemakers are rare. In the This little oasis of greenery,
16th century the local lace was inhabited by nine friars, lies just
the most sought after in Europe. south of Burano. There is no
It was so delicate it became vaporetto service and to get there
known as punto in aria (“points you must bargain with the boat-
in the air”). Foreign competition, men on Burano’s quayside. Book
coupled with the Republic’s a trip on Massimiliano’s Laguna
A stall selling lace and linen in Burano’s decline, led to a slump in the Fla boat or take a water taxi..
main street 18th century in Burano’s The multilingual friars give
industry. However, the need tours of the old church and the
2 Burano for an alternative source of lovely gardens, which have a
income led to a revival of the tree said to have sprouted from
4 12 from Fondamente Nuove,
approx. 40–50 minutes, or 14 from San skill in 1872 and the founding the staff of St Francis of Assisi.
Zaccaria to Punta Sabbioni, approx. of a lacemaking school, the
1½ hours. Scuola dei Merletti.
Today, authentic Burano lace
Burano is the most colourful of is hard to find. Genuine pieces
the lagoon islands. Lying in a take weeks of pains taking
lonely expanse of the northern labour, and are expensive.
lagoon, it is distinguished from Original pieces can be seen
a distance by the tall, dramatically at the informative Museo del
tilted tower of its church. In Merletto. Displays of household A Buranese fisherman about to haul in the
contrast to the desolate Torcello, linens and clothing feature fine day’s catch
the island is densely populated, antique lace, much of it created
its waterways lined by brightly at the school.
painted houses. 4 Murano
A tour of the island’s sights Mazzorbo 4 No. 4.1, 4.2 or 12 from Fondamente
will take an hour or so. The street Linked to Burano by a Nuove; 3 from Piazzale Roma.
from the ferry stop takes visitors footbridge, Mazzorbo is an
to the main thoroughfare, Via island of orchards and gardens. Like the city of Venice, Murano
Baldassare Galuppi, named after Ferries en route to Burano comprises a cluster of small
the Burano-born composer and Torcello pass through its islands, connected by bridges.
(1706–85). The street is lined with canal. The only surviving It has been the centre of the
lace and linen stalls and open- church is the Romanesque- glassmaking industry since 1291,
air trattorias serving fresh fish. Gothic Santa Caterina. when the furnaces and glass
craftsmen were moved here
from the city, prompted by the
risk of fire to the buildings and
the disagreeable effects of smoke.
Historically Murano owes its
prosperity entirely to glass. From
the late 13th century, when the
population numbered over
30,000, Murano enjoyed self-
government, minted its own
coins and had its own Golden
Book (see p46) listing members
of the aristocracy. In the 15th
and 16th centuries it was the
principal glass-producing centre
in Europe. Murano’s glass artisans
were granted unprecedented
privileges, but for those who left
Brightly painted houses in Burano the island to found businesses

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