Lately, I’ve run a lot into monastery, church and cathedral posts, which made me thinking that I should bring my contribution as well to my reserved corner of the internet even though not much has passed since I shared a similar place, but from a different country.
I’ve always said that this kind of religious places represent one of the richest locations one can visit because it comes with lots of stories, experiences, unique architecture, and pieces of history no matter what the faith of those stopping by is.
And with that thought, visiting religious places was never missing from our lists no matter if we were travelling in our home country (Romania), or abroad.
Spotting Chiesa di San Martino Vescovo was not hard, as it is amongst the tallest buildings from Burano and you can notice it pretty much from any side of the island, which makes it even easier for you to reach it because you can make your way towards the church only by following the tower without needing the GPS or other coordinates.
The church with the tower that stirs so much curiosity is placed in the center of the island being surrounded by lots of terraces and shops from where you can get souvenirs, so even if you don’t have it planned as a stop during your trip, you will end up seeing it pretty close anyway.
We were actually stopping here and there gathering souvenirs for our loved ones when we realized that we were approaching the church so much. We did have it on our list of what to see while being in Burano, but only realized later that the path takes us by itself in that direction without using our phones for coordinates, which made things a lot easier and enjoyable.
However, the side you are going to reach by following the main path on the island is that with the entrance to the church which we couldn’t visit because of having our journey during a break in the schedule of the visiting hours. For that reason, we decided to follow the way to the right so we could admire the tower even closer, which is actually the main point of interest over the whole building.
So… in case the tower seemed a bit inclined while checking the pictures, keep in mind that this is real and there is not a problem with the pictures.
The leaning bell tower is actually often compared with the famous tower of Pisa, but while that one has a lot more stories to go along with, there is not much information about the one belonging to the Church of Saint Martin Bishop from Burano, making it stir even more controversy.
The single legend standing for the tower of the church is that of an angel who fell from the sky in 1867 during a storm who hit the tower, making it become inclined.
But a more appropriate story is that of speaking about a church dating since the 9th century with the addition of the tower in the 18th century, where plenty of restorations were done, along with having the overall island face more land subsidence that made the tower get inclined around 1.83 meters.
And based on its weight and an island that perhaps is slowly sinking as it happens with Venice, this one is expected to keep leaning like the Pisa Tower by the passage of time.
But while I haven’t seen Pisa Tower yet, even though checked tens, if not hundreds of pictures shared of it already, I still think that the danger is not that high on the tower of Chiesa di San Martino Vescovo since the inclination is not that visible already.
Actually, there are just a few angles from where this one seems inclined, while obviously, that’s not the case for Pisa Tower which can be seen from any direction.
So whether the legend is real or not, I still find it a pretty interesting spot on Burano Island where you can take a break from all the colourful houses that make this place so popular, especially since we are speaking about many centuries of history which are still stored carefully inside the church.
And speaking of the church, keep in mind that this represents one of the most challenged religious places I’ve met, facing a big fire that destroyed the main aisle and the pipe organ which is so important for every church. Hence why, the shape of Chiesa di San Martino Vescovo was never a well-defined one facing various restorations that more or less changed its previous look.
For this reason, there is not a proper entrance to the church, but one that was improvised in a Renaissance style that belongs to a different building, namely the Chapel of Santa Barbara.
The wall brick that can be seen in the pictures provides access to a different yard than that of the church and the tower, which might be confusing for most of the tourists. But the actual way of getting inside and seeing everything a lot closer becomes a real challenge since very few water buses reach the island when the church is open.
The complete address of Chiesa di San Martino Vescovo is P.za Baldassarre Galuppi, 20, 30142 Venezia VE, Italy and it’s open daily between 8 AM to 7 PM with a break between 12 PM and 3 PM when it’s closed.
In order to reach Burano Island you will need a waterbus or water taxi. We decided to go with the waterbus which has a station right on the island but from there you will still need to walk a few more minutes until reaching the church. The waterbus lines taking you to Burano Island are: Lines 4.2, 5.2, 12, and 14.
Other places I’ve seen during my visit to Burano Island:
- Bepi’s House (Burano’s most colorful house)
- Chiesa di San Martino Vescovo (Church of Saint Martin Bishop, Burano)
more coming soon…
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Gabriela Travels 