We have left the island of Murano, where we visited one of the furnaces and show rooms of the famous Venetian glass blowers, who have produced fine glass there since the 1200’s. Now, we are going to Burano, another island north of Venice on the Venetian Lagoon. It is a forty minute ride by water taxi or vaporetto from Venice. Here is our first door along our route!

Taking a little canal right into the city, the first thing one notices is color, color, color! Burano has a fascinating history and some very interesting doors!

First, we have to get to the main square…….follow the sky line, I say.

from our small boat…….

Burano was noted for its lace. The legend says that a fisherman, who was engaged to be married, was enticed by a mermaid to give up his betrothed. He would not go with the mermaid or give up his girlfriend, and when the mermaid slipped away, her tail brushed the side of the boat and created a beautiful foam. The fisherman picked up this foam and gave it to his betrothed.  She wore the foam as a beautiful veil on her wedding day.  That became the lace of Burano and from that day on, the women of Burano tried to create even more detailed and intricate lace designs to out-do each other. There are five steps to make a piece of their lace.  There was one lacemaker for each step, selected for the step that she was best at, even though all the lacemakers had to be able to create all the lace steps. So every piece of lace took five lacemakers to create it and the five were paid by their completed pieces. Work faster!

The lacemakers were highly sought after and their fame spread all across Europe. There is a lace museum here which features the Burano lace and their prized Burano stitch. Today, the island boasts only 2800 inhabitants and the primary industry is tourism.

Walking on to the square, we see the church of San Martino, established in 1645.

The canal cut right through the city.

Shops, restaurants and lodging on either side of the canal…..we just criss-crossed back and forth……..

to see the doors up close………

Why bother with a door when a curtain will do…….

Oh, I like the lime color!

and the terra cotta and the peach……

and the mustard yellow…..

and the cut through; deep tunnels that led from one street to another, so you didn’t have to walk all the way around.

I hope you have enjoyed our doorscursion through Burano today! See you tomorrow with more photos of this beautiful city!

Have a great door week! Look here to see what others are doing for Norm’s Doors!

It’s easy to do Norm’s Doors. Photograph some doors and post them to Thursday Doors on Thursday!

PS All photos were taken on our IPhones this year……..we are traveling lighter!