According to most visitors, Burano Island is one of the most beautiful islands of the Venetian Lagoon. Can you even imagine that each house of this island is painted in a different color? Colors are definitely something that sets this island of fishermen apart, but this is not all, there is also something untouchable, maybe the warmth of its inhabitants and the island that even though completely invaded by tourist during summer, do not close their doors to visitors.
Burano Island is located around 11 kilometers northeast from Venice. It was an island of fishermen for centuries, but nowadays it predominantly lives of tourism.
It is believed that the Buran Island was inhabited at the same time as Venice and the Murano Island. At first, due to the shallow waters of the lagoon all the houses were built on pillars, while the only building material used was wood. Only from the 11th century and onwards were the houses built with bricks. As the Murano Island, Burano enjoyed a partial autonomy, which lasted till the 20th century when it officially became a part of Venice.
The main attraction of the island are its colorful houses. The unprepared tourists usually get mesmerized by the incredible effect of the colors, since almost every house is painted in a different color. It is important to mention that this is not a modern practice intended to draw tourists to the island, but rather a long lasting tradition, the origins of which are not known. There are two theories why so many colors were used. According to the first theory, as there are just a few families on the island (a small variety of last names), residents wanted to differentiate their family branches. The second and more realistic theory argues that due to the incredibly dense fog common on the island, fishermen used to paint their houses in different colors to find their homes more easily during the fog period.
Another interesting attraction of the Burano Island is its Leaning tower. The bell tower of the only church on the island- church San Martino, is leaning to one side due to sinking of the foundations. After being constructed in the 18th century, the foundations on one side of the tower started sinking almost immediately. This 53 meters high tower continued to lean to one side, until 1970 when it was decided to undertake reconstruction works in order to stabilize it and prevent the crash.
It is interesting to mention that most of Burano’s inhabitants are moving to other parts of Venice. The main reason for this is that during winter the island is hit by an incredibly dense fog. Also, being connected to the rest of Venice only by one vaporetto line makes the life of the local population really difficult.
