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Photo credit Alex Faiello and Tjaard Krusch

Visiting gorgeous Burano, Venice

I’d wanted to visit Burano on a few of my previous trips to Venice but hadn’t managed to fit it in for whatever reason. On my trip to Venice last month I resolved that I *had* to get myself to Burano once and for all, to see the gorgeous colourful buildings for myself.

All of the houses in Burano are painted a different, striking colour. It’s said that this was so that sailors who returned from sea in the evening exhausted could easily find their homes, and wouldn’t stumble into the wrong one.

No two houses next to each other on the island are the same colour and I’m pretty sure it could be the most colourful little island in the world.

The bell tower in Burano is a wonderful example of Venetian architecture being affected by the land it’s built on. The bell tower leans an alarming amount - it’s 1 metre and 70 cm off centre. This is exactly the same amount of lean as the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, but it looks far more dramatic on this skinny bell tower that stands imposingly above everything else on the island.

Admittedly there isn’t that much to do in Burano. The island (well, it’s actually a group of four islands linked together by bridges) is small and most places close around 6-7pm for the evening. It’s really a place where locals live and there are no hotels where tourists can stay.

This means that all of the visitors to Burano are only there for a few hours during the day, however, in the height of summer when I visited it wasn’t overcrowded or too busy. It was actually the perfect escape from the cramped streets of the centre of Venice that are ridiculously busy in summer (and much of the year).

Walking around Burano it’s kind of hard to believe a place like this actually exists. The colours are so bright and so happy it makes it a little bit impossible to walk around without a smile on your face.

When strolling around taking pictures of absolutely everything because it was so darn photogenic I kept noticing that almost everyone had their front doors open. The front doors were open and covered only by a little curtain (that was colour coordinated with the building, obviously).

In a world where people are afraid to travel because of the turbulent political and religious situations in many countries, this struck me as such a charming and wonderful thing. The local people here obviously feel so comfortable with their fellow locals and the few tourists who do visit the island that they’re quite happy to leave their front doors wide open.


Picture of Emma's Travel Tales

Posted by Emma's Travel Tales
on 28th July 2016

Destinations

Veneto Venice

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