Part 12: Burano and Torcello
Tuesday afternoon is sunny and warm, and we are scheduled for a
boat trip across the lagoon to Burano and Torcello. The little boat is ours.
Burano is a 30 minute boat ride from Venice, and though it’s part
of the city, it’s another world.
Wide open colorful streets and colorful side streets, cute houses, a leaning tower,
Wide open colorful streets and colorful side streets, cute houses, a leaning tower,
And a piazza that reminds me of a Giorgio de Chirico painting.
Three thousand people live on Burano, most of them fishermen. They also have a famed tradition of
lace making. The colors of the houses
are regulated. If someone wants to paint his home, he has to send a request to
the government, who responds by noting the specific colors permitted for that
lot. Sounds like an American planned community with CCRs.
* * * * * *
Ten minutes away is the island of Torcello, yet another
world. Twenty people live here and each
one of them must run a garden restaurant.
We passed four or five eating places much like this on our walk to the
old church that is being restored.
La Chiesa di Sta Maria Assunta is the oldest church we will see on
our tour. Parts of it date from the 9th
century, and the mosaics inside are the oldest (11th century) in the
Venice area. Interior photography is not
allowed.
Torcello was the first of all the Venetian islands to be populated
- as an escape from continual invasions by Huns, Lombards, and their ilk in the 6th
century. It once had a population bigger
than Venice (about 10,000). Today it is
mostly verdant, with pomegranate and grape orchards.
Is Venice sinking?
Venice has had water problems for over a thousand years. In the 12th century people began
leaving Torcello because the lagoon was becoming a swamp which led to malaria
and the closing of shipping lanes.
In his Guidebook Rick Steves asked how much it was sinking; and
the answer from one citizen was “less than the sea is rising.” Every winter Venice floods about 100 times
(the Acqua Alta). It has sunk nine inches
on the past 100 years. This, combined with rising seas, mean more and larger
acqua altas. The highest was in 1966 when the water level rose to six feet
above the norm. In November 2012 it was
5 feet above normal and 75% of the city was under water. St Mark’s Square looked like this.
When we were there the area around our hotel was on the verge of
flooding
So what is being done? In
2003 a consortium of engineering firms began building underwater mobile gates
on the floor of the sea at the three entrances to the lagoon. When the sea gets above a certain level the
gates are supposed to rise and shut out the sea. The project is supposed to be partially
operational by 2014. Will this do the job?
We’ll see.
