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On our way to Burano, we decided to hop off the vaporetto at the peaceful island of Mazzorbo. It’s included in the UNESCO World Heritage listing for Venice and its Lagoon.
Introduction to Mazzorbo
Mazzorbo was one of the earliest settled islands in the Venetian Lagoon, predating the settlement of Venice itself. Once an important trading center, it declined with the development of Venice and was eventually abandoned. After depopulation, five monasteries and five parish churches were founded on the island. All but one, the Church of Santa Caterina (Chiesa di Santa Caterina) on the western end of the island, have been demolished.
In 1979, Giancarlo De Carlo (1919-2005) built a colorful housing development intended to repopulate the island. Mazzorbo, however, continues to be a sparsely populated rural island known for its vineyards.
We were ultimately happy with our decision to visit and it turned out to be a nice unscheduled stop, leaving us wanting to spend more time on the island. In the future, we’d like to visit the Church of Santa Caterina and maybe grab a bite to eat.
Getting to Mazzorbo
To get to Mazzorbo, you can take a vaporetto from the Fondamente Nove ferry terminal in the Cannaregio district of Venice. The ride takes about 30 minutes.
Our Short Time on the Island
We only spent about 10 minutes on Mazzorbo, starting with a walk from the ferry terminal along the canal on the north side of the island. We passed a few colorful houses as a preview of what we would see on Burano.
On the northeast corner of the island, we cut through peaceful Mazzorbo Park (Parco Mazzorbo). Back on the path, we got a nice clear view of the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta on the island of Torcello. We then turned towards Burano, passing up a vineyard owned by Venissa. In the distance, we could see the bell tower of the Church of Archangel Michael (Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo), which was demolished in 1828.
Finally, while crossing over the bridge to heavily populated Burano, we got a good look at the south side of the island. You can spot Venice faintly in the distance on the left side of the photo.
