The Rough Guide to Venice and the Veneto

8
The Northern Islands
The main islands lying to the north of Venice – San Michele, Murano,
Burano and Torcello – used to be good places to visit when the throng
of tourists in the main part of Venice became too oppressive. Nowadays
the throngs are almost everywhere for most of the year, but a northwards
excursion is still a restorative when the stone pavements and endless brick walls
become wearying – out here the horizons are distant and the bleak swathes of
barèna (marshland) give a taste of what conditions were like for Venice’s first settlers.
A day-trip through this part of the lagoon will reveal the origins of the glass
and lace work touted in so many of the city’s shops, and give you a glimpse of
the origins of Venice itself, embodied in Torcello’s magnificent cathedral of Santa
Maria dell’Assunta.
the northern islands
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