Posted on Feb 22, 2008 in
Services |
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Venice Holidays’s Tours
1) Murano/Burano factory tours
2) Lido island biking tour
American woman living in Venice for over ten years offers fun and exciting tours during your visit to Venice.
To reserve a tour please email: info@venice-holidays.com
1) Murano and Burano Island Tours in Private Water Taxi:
Tour cost: 10 Euros per person, 4 person minimum. Private Water Taxi is included.
You will be carried away into the lagoon by private water taxi to both Murano and Burano to see two of the most beautiful factories making the famous Murano blown glass and lace.
You’ll be met at the Fondamenta Nuove area of Venice and placed on board your own private water taxi heading first to Murano then onto Burano where you will get to see authentic artists at work.
Murano was a commercial port as far back as the 7th Century, and by the 10th Century it had grown into a prosperous trading center with its own coins, police force, and commercial aristocracy. Then, in 1291, the Venetian Republic ordered glassmakers to move their foundries to Murano because the glassworks represented a fire danger in Venice, whose buildings were mostly wooden at the time.It wasn’t long until Murano’s glassmakers were the leading citizens on the island. Artisans were granted the right to wear swords and enjoyed immunity from prosecution by the notoriously high-handed Venetian state. By the late 14th Century, the daughters of glassmakers were allowed to marry into Venice’s blue-blooded families.
Such pampered treatment had one catch: Glassmakers weren’t allowed to leave the Republic. If a craftsman got a hankering to set up shop beyond the Lagoon, he risked being assassinated or having his hands cut off by the secret police–although, in practice, most defectors weren’t treated so harshly.
What made Murano’s glassmakers so special? For one thing, they were the only people in Europe who knew how to make glass mirrors. They also developed or refined technologies such as crystalline glass, enameled glass (smalto), glass with threads of gold (aventurine), multicolored glass (millefiori), milk glass (lattimo), and imitation gemstones made of glass. Their virtual monopoly on quality glass lasted for centuries, until glassmakers in Northern and Central Europe introduced new techniques and fashions around the same time that colonists were emigrating to the New World.
BURANO Island and its lace:
Burano’s lace making traditionsWhile the men of Burano are out fishing, the women are at home making lace. The women of the island used to repair their husbands fishing nets while they were away and probably started lace-making out of boredom.The Burano tradition of the ”air stitch” dates back to the fourteenth century, when the Duchess Morosina Morosini, wife of Doge Morosini, set up a lace workshop on the island and employed over 100 people.By the sixteenth century, the lace was renowned for its quality across Europe - Louis XIV of France wore a black collar of Burano lace that took two years to make. By the eighteenth century, Burano lace had lost much of its cachet and became perilously close to extinction, but it was revived in the late nineteenth century by Contessa Marcello and by the start of the twentieth century Venice and the islands between them employed some 5,000 lace makers in seven major factories. Nowadays, real Burano lace is a very expensive luxury and a dying art since it takes three years for ten women to make a single tablecloth.
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The word “merletto”(lace), which appeared in Venetian documents as early as the 15th century, comes from the word ‘merli’ which means the architectural elements that decorated medieval buildings, and later, the palaces of Venice in Flamboyant Gothic style. |
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Technique : Needlepoint lace, which was born in Venice in the second half of the 15th century, actually derives from embroidery. It is inspired from those stitches that create transparency in the design (punto tagliato). Needlepoint lace is done using a cylindrical cushion. |
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To reserve a tour please email: info@venice-holidays.com
2) Lido Bicylcle Tour:
Tour cost: 40 Euros per person and includes your bike rental. 2 person minimum.
Tour is 2 hours long.
Tour is available from March 1st until mid. October.
Weather permitting.
Remember to dress comfortably with sneakers, sun hat, and sunglasses.
Visiting Lido you will immerse yourself in a place that to this date continues to charm and delight its visitors.
Famous since XIX century as one of the most exclusive bathing resorts of Europe and appreciated by well known figures such as Shelley and Byron, Lido is a 12 kilometres long and sandy strip and represents a natural barrier between Venice and the open sea.
Walking along the sea-front road, we can find architectural symbols belonging to the golden days tourism famous hotels such as Excelsior Hotel or Des Bains Hotel. Fine-sand beaches, “capanne” and “murazzi”, artificial rocks in Istria stone serve as a strong protection against the strength of the sea during stormy winter months.
There are many things to see on Lido such as the San Nicolò Church with works by Giovanni da Crema and Palma il Giovane, or visit the adjacent Benedictine Monastery and the beautiful 1500 cloister, which, in addition to the very interesting Jewish Cemetery, are the most relevant artistic sites to be discovered on this island. Finally, in September the International Film Festival is the event you can not miss.
This tour will be given by a long time American resident of the island.
Its a great way to start your vacation off in a fun and relaxing way and see this beautiful beach island. Sign up ahead of time to reserve your space!
To reserve a tour please email:
info@venice-holidays.com
For something different we signed up for the bicycle tour of Lido. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing the island at a leisurely pace on bicycles led by Denise who lives on the island. Lido is so close to Venice but such a different world, both fabulous in their own way. We whole-heartedly recommend the bicycle tour for a fun, entertaining experience.” Vickie Vaughan
“Denise took us on a fascinating bike tour of the the Lido. We
visited the new MOSE project that will combat the acqua alta, saw the
beaches of the rich and famous who visit the Lido every year, and
wandered down tree-shaded streets unlike those in other Venice
neighborhoods. We had a lovely time and would recommend
it to anyone! Susan Bonthron
We would like to offer daily excursions on a luxury sailboat for up to 10 people. The vessel is 18 meters long and has 6 cabins that each sleep two people and 5 bathrooms.
