Burano
Lagoon island of brightly painted fishermen's houses famed for centuries of handmade needle lace.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Burano in the Venice lagoon opens with the legend islanders tell about how their women learned needle lace — a fisherman, a siren, and thread that hardens from sea foam. It traces the real history behind the story, from Cyprus-taught needlework in the 1500s that made Burano lace famous across Europe, through the craft's near-death after the fall of the Venetian Republic, to the school that revived it on Piazza Galuppi in 1872. Listen for the square where that lace school first opened its doors.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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