Discover The Island
Burano is a unique life experience, a 360-degree sensory experience. You will be able to observe the thousand colors of its houses, the laces made by the wise hands of its women, breathe in the smells of the lagoon and smell its characteristic sounds, the rustle of the nets and the waves breaking in its shores
Burano and its colors
The island of Burano is located in the center of the Venetian lagoon, between the islands of Torcello and Murano. Its name comes from “Porta Boreana”, oriented to North-East, from where the Bora wind comes blowing. It stands out in the Venetian landscape because of its wonderful scenography of colorful houses, reflected in the crystal clear waters of the canals. Each house has its characteristic color gradation, a vital cunning from the past, used by fishermen to recognize their houses even in the thickest fog. Burano is represented also by its crooked bell tower, the typical pastry making, the traditional laces and the fishing boats. Staying in Burano means experiencing a reality that has remained unchanged through the centuries.
Fishing
Venice has been a city devoted to fishing for centuries and the techniques stayed unchanged through times: the most widespread fishing technique is the “tartana” and the “baicolèra”, characterized by the so-called bottom trawls. The first is sewn in such a way to form a sort of truncated cone, with a final part called sack to capture the smaller fishes. The tartana allows to capture all species of fish, crustaceans and molluscs, and the net is pulled from the water every two hours. The “baicolèra” is instead equipped with wing tips for capturing the so-called “noble fish”, such as sea bass. The nets most used by fishermen were the “seragia”, the “trèssa”, the “chebe” which are skillfully laid out in the waters of the lagoon for long periods of time. Wandering around the canals of the lagoon they still stand out clearly today, creating a breathtaking landscape.
Lace
The history of the bobbin lace of the Burano island is very ancient and wrapped in a halo of conjectures and legends. Some researchers believe the typical buranel processing could be connected to the seafaring tradition and therefore would resume the technique of manufacturing and repairing nets. The first evidence of the lace trade dates back to the 15th century and over the years it gained such international fame that it became a distinctive trait among the noble courts of the time. With the diversification of trade routes, like most of the island’s artisanal products, laces manufacture had a period of anonymity, interrupted in 1872 by the Countess Antonia Marcello who decided to revitalize the ancient art, giving birth to a real school located in the palace of the “podestà”(major). He asked an old lace maker named Vincenza Memo – known as Cencia Scarpariola – who was the last repository of all the secrets of the art, to pass them on to the elementary teacher Anna Bellorio d’Este, who in turn passed them on to her daughters and a group of girls. The school of lace was definitively closed in 1970. On June 25, 2011, the Lace Museum was inaugurated in the ancient seat of the school and houses over two hundred unique specimens of the school’s collection, executed between the 16th and the 16th century and the 20th century. It also preserves the school archive and other documents and works of art related to the manufacture of lace in Venice. It is open from 1 November to 31 March 10.30 – 16.30 (ticket office 10.30am – 4.00pm) from 1 April to 31 October 10.30am – 5.00pm (ticket office 10.30am – 4.30pm).
Ca’ Savio Beach
Ca ’Savio is one of the most beautiful beaches of Cavallino Treporti, the wide expanse of golden sand and the nearby pine forest create a little corner of paradise immersed in the lagoon. The sea water is crystal clear and on some days, with luck, you can even spot dolphins.
Casa Bepi
In Burano each house has its own color, used by fishermen to recognize their own even in the thickest fog. Our Casa Bepi has all the colors of the rainbow. This was the house of Giuseppe – Bepi, f0r the Venetians – Toselli, a lover of painting and cinema, where he worked as a handyman. When the structure was closed, he began selling sweets in Piazza Galuppi, from which Bepi delle Caramelle. But since his love for Cinema was still intact, until the early eighties, on warm summer evenings, he organized outdoor screenings in the campiello nearby the house; after hanging a white sheet on the facade of his house, he screened cartoons and comedies for everybody.
He spent his life painting the exterior facade of his house, with various and colorful geometric shapes, changing them every day.
Bepi died in 2002 and Mara Bon, who had spent her childhood in that colorful little square and who feared that a restoration could change the house forever, decided to buy it and restore the original look it had in a 1985 photo.
Even the interiors have been preserved with the typical distribution of 40 square meters in 3 levels of fishermen’s houses. Giuseppe lived with his parents and his 6 brothers, eating on shifts or sitting on the stairs, but it was magical and still is.
Boat Trip
For our guests we organize fascinating boat trips, to discover Venice and its islands through the framing of its origins, by water. Venitian bridges and palaces, the houses and the shores, they were created for that reason: to be admired from the perspective of a boat, from the lagoon. Alongside this unique vision of the city, we propose a life experience, a different excursion voted “to rediscover the social and environmental reality of the most suggestive places and the ancient traditions of the Venice Lagoon”. In collaboration with the San Marco Cooperative, founded in 1896 and made up of a hundred fishermen from the island of Burano, we plan boat excursions in which the fishermen themselves, around the islands of Burano and Torcello, talk about their professional activities, so that visitors can fully immerse themselves in the local fishing culture and tradition. The most used period for excursions is from April to October. You can choose between traditional fishing, that of the “moleche” on board of a “bragozzetto” or that with the lobster pots or nets, in a wooden boat.