Burano, Italy Walking Tour 2020 With Captions - Prowalk Tours - UHD
Welcome to Burano, Italy! Burano is a small island in the Venetian Lagoon, and like Venice, it is built around a system of canals. Burano is famous for its brightly colored homes and handmade lace. Tens of millions of tourists visit Venice each year but very few take the time to make the 45 minute ferry ride to Burano Island.
Since the 16th century, Burano has been a producer of high quality handmade lace. There is even a Lace Museum here on the island housed in a 1870s artisan school building. Similar to Venice, Burano is divided up into five districts, known as sestieri, which correspond to the original five islands. While the primary industry on the island is tourism, Burano was and still is a fishing village.
The homes on Burano were originally painted bright colors to help fisherman find their way home in the often foggy lagoon. Each fisherman at the time had their boat painted the same color as their house, so that their wives could identify their husbands. Today, each home is painted a different color to mark where one property ends and another begins. The houses are repainted every two years and government approval is required before any color can be changed.
The district of San Mauro is on the right side of the canal while the district of San Martino Sinistra is on the left. Burano is believed to have been first settled by the Romans and was later occupied by people from Altino, a town on the mainland near Venice. The residents of Altino fled to the island seeking refuge from the Huns of Attila in the 6th century AD.
The people of Altino named the islands in the lagoon after the six gates in their destroyed city: Murano, Mazzorbo, Burano, Torcello, Ammiana and Costanziaca. The Porta Boreana, from which Burano was named, was the northern gate to their city. The first houses built on this marshy island were built on stilts and the walls were made of reeds and mud. Stone and brick houses were not built here until after 1000 AD.
During the Venetian Republic when the population of Venice was at its peak around at 175,000 people, the population of Burano was only around 8,000. Today, the population of Burano is around 2,200. In the 1884 book, Life on the Lagoons, author Horatio Brown described what he observed on the islands. Regarding the people of Burano, he wrote "The Buranelli are quick, brusque, rough; with something of the saltiness and pungency of the sea on which they live." He continued, "The streets are noisy and dirty. You will hear plenty of abuse on all sides." "The boys are audacious, persistent, and tormenting as flies. The men of Burano have not a good reputation;...."
".....and probably, if a collision occurs in the small canals of Venice the gondolier will tell you that the offenders are Buranei,.." "There is something fine and bronze-like about the men of Burano, and they have, to counterbalance their evil repute..." "...the fame of doing more work for less pay than of the islanders of the lagoons."
"Although Burano is a town which obviously takes care of itself, though the Venetians and other islanders bear it little good will." A link to the free e-book of Life on the Lagoons can be found in the description below. Burano, like Venice, is made up of a group of smaller islands linked together by bridges.
If you are in Venice and would like to visit Burano, you can take Vaporetto #12 water bus from San Marco. Before reaching Burano, the vaporetto will stop at the island of Murano, famous for its glass. If you look closely at the bell tower, you will notice that the 53m tall bell tower is leaning to one side. At the far end of the piazza is San Martino, a 16th-century Roman Catholic church.
While taking a leisurely stroll around the island, be sure to enjoy a fresh seafood lunch at one of the many restaurants. This street, Via Baldassarre Galuppi, was once a canal that separated two different islands. There were originally five islands that made up Burano. This street turned Burano into only 4 islands. Please remember to SUBSCRIBE and hit the bell so you never miss a new video! Grazie!
2021-03-01 16:07
