Venetian islands revamp traditions to counter depopulation
VENICE, Italy — The Venetian island of Burano’s charms are rooted in its fishing legacy: the colorful fishermen’s cottages, the traditional butter cookies that kept fishermen going at sea and the delicate lace hand-stitched by their women.
But as the island’s population dwindles, like that of Venice itself a 40-minute boat ride away, so do the numbers of skilled artisans who keep the traditions and economy alive.
To counter the trend, Venezia Nativa, an association of entrepreneurs on Burano and two neighboring islands, is trying to breathe fresh life into old trades to attract new residents and persuade young islanders to stay.
Domenico Rossi, 49, is a crab fisherman, like his ancestors back to the glory days of the Venetian Republic.
But that way of life is dying. When Rossi was a boy, about 100 fishermen plied the northern Venetian lagoon for soft-shell crabs. Now, he’s the youngest of the 20 still operating, and he figures in a couple of decades there will be none left.
“Once we disappear, Venice disappears,” the Burano native said.
Still, he has forbidden his 18-yearold son to take up the trade, seeking to protect him from long hours, uncertain profits and the threat of tightening fishing regulations.
His son is training to be a chef. And Rossi is transforming his own work into a tourist attraction, bringing small groups on boat tours in the off-season.
Venice has long sounded the alarm about being reduced to a living museum, as tourism mushrooms and population levels shrink, threatening the city’s viability. Permanent residents in the historic center — which includes St. Mark’s Square and the Grand Canal — have sunk to 53,000, down by a third in one generation.
About 1,000 people leave each year for cheaper, easier living in the city’s mainland districts. With them, the social fabric of the city wears, the number of neighborhood stores offering staples dwindles — as do public services.
On Burano and its two neighboring islands of Mazzorbo and Torcello, the impact of depopulation is even more evident. Residents currently number 2,700, dropping by 60 a year.
Just 40 years ago, there were two elementary schools with about 120 children in each grade. Each now has no more than a dozen.
About 30 island business owners are trying to secure the northern lagoon’s future by relaunching local trades and encouraging sustainable tourism. Whereas Venice suffers under the pressure of some 30 million visitors a year, only about 1.5 million of those continue on to Burano.
”We want these three islands in the northern lagoon to become a tourist destination apart from Venice,” said association vice president Roberto Pugliese. That means offering activities like fishing or boating and promoting the allure of the quiet lagoon life, beyond the existing tourist draws of lace shops, Instagrammable backdrops of brightly colored fishing cottages and the quiet Byzantine cathedral on Torcello. Across a footbridge from Burano, on the neighboring island of Mazzorbo, a winemaker from the prosecco region north of Venice has relaunched a long-dormant vineyard, Venissa, opening a Michelin-starred restaurant and hotel along with it. A decade on, most of its 30 employees live on the islands.
Makers of the traditional Burano lace also are looking to revitalize their sector, mostly by moving from traditional decorative uses such as tablecloths or wall hangings into creating works of art or fashion.
At dalla Lidia, a Burano lace shop, Japanese textile maker Yuka Miyagishima is spending three months to learn the craft practiced today by no more than 100 women, most of them elderly. It’s painstaking work, using a thread and needle to create intricate stitches and knots on paper that is later torn away.
Pugliese said it would be ideal for her to remain on the island and work — but Miyagishima says she intends to return home and practice the tradition there.
Getting outsiders to move to Burano is complicated not only by the convenience factor, but also by its peculiar housing stock. About 80% of the island’s housing is picturesque fishing cottages. They’re adored by tourists for their colorful facades — but less so by residents long restricted by preservation laws on how they can renovate the two-story structures, each level just 215 square feet. In a sign of the times, many are for sale.
Officials have recently given tentative approval to changes that will make it easier, for example, to combine adjoining houses into a single abode. Pugliese is also hoping that Venice will allow hotels to operate with rooms dispersed throughout the island. At the moment there are fewer than 20 hotel rooms on the island, limiting overnight stays.