Murano and Burano, Italy

As part of our day trip to Venice, Miran and I toured the nearby islands of Murano and Burano.

Murano is a small series of islands about 1.5 km (~1 mile) north of Venice.  The population is a little more than 5,000.  Murano's claim to fame is its glass making.

Back in 1291, all of Venice's glass makers were forced to move to Murano due to the risk of fires.  For some time, Murano was the main producer of glass in Europe.  Today it is still the main industry on the island.  As part of our tour we were taken to see a glass making demonstration (and the opportunity to purchase souvenirs).

The island is also home to the Church of Santa Marie e San Donato.  It was originally built in the 7th century.  Inside a marble sarcophagus are believed to be the romains of Saint Donatus of Arezzo.

 
Burano is 6 km (~4 miles) north of Murano.  It is actually made up of four islands separated by 10 meter wide canals.  Burano has about 2,800 people.


Burano is famous for its lacework.  However, the town's charm is its brightly-painted houses.  The story goes that the fishermen's wives painted their homes such bright colors so that the men would be able to find their way home from far away.  Today, if someone wants to paint their home, a written request is made to the government and a notice is then received indicating which colors are permitted for a given lot.

Both islands were worth the visit.  The nice thing is that neither was as crowded as Venice was.  Granted it was the final weekend of Carnival but Venice was way crowded.  Or at least I thought so.  According to our tour guide, the crowds were much less than a couple of weeks ago.