The Venetian wooden terrace: Venice seen from the top

Venetian roofs

In Venice there are many buildings that are topped with wooden terraces. In the twelfth century Venetian houses were just made out of wood and had terraces parallel to the main facades. As they collapsed very often the government decided to remove them especially those along main streets and canals, and later they were added on top of the roofs.

Small rooftop garden in the foreground

What function did they have?

They served for different purposes. It was one of the favorite places of many women, who used to dry clothes outside, did some gardening and watered flowers.

Panorama

Starting from the 1500s they were used for another purpose. Local women took advantage of the sun rays to lighten their hair. The most fashionable color was the blond invented by one of the most famous painters, Titian, who painted his female subjects blond and with fair skin.

Violante, Titian’s painting

It was a ceremony that most of the women followed in order to be fashionable but In order to obtain this highlighted effect they followed to the letter the recipes suggested by manufacturers and sellers of perfumes. A straw hat with no top served for the purpose, where their long hair was rolled up to dry.

Iron wooden terrace

The wooden terraces left in the city are subject to the Superintendency, that in recent times has decided not to give so many permits for new ones!

San Francesco del Deserto: an island where peace and silence reign.

When St. Francis came back from the fifth crusade in the 1220s it is said that he stopped to pray on one of the Venetian lagoon islands. Immediately after he left the island was called Saint Francis after his name a group of Franciscan fathers settled there to continue his religious practice. Hundreds of years later because of malaria the island was abandoned for a while and for this reason the word Desert was applied to it.

The architectonic complex of Saint Francis, the pathway leading to the church

The island is considered a place for meditation and prayers as it is surrounded by a lot of vegetation and cypresses, typical trees of the lagoon islands and of the Mediterranean evergreen plants. A pathway with pebbles leads to the old convent, where a few friars still live today.

The church

The island was originally owned by a Venetian nobleman, Jacopo Michiel, who donated it to the friars. In 1228 a church was added to the oratory where St. Francis prayed. On its facade there is the representation of the saint in a small niche. The whole architectonic complex was built according to the Franciscan standards of respecting simplicity, so its inner and outer parts remain very plain.

Part of the garden surrounding the island

Following St Francis precepts the Franciscan friars found God in all the creatures and identified with them as brothers and sisters. Famous are his Canticle of the creatures and his Canticle of the Sun underlying the relationship between humankind and the creation.

One of his canticles is represented on the iron structure you see in the above picture. The hymn was dedicated to the birds who greeted him on his arrival on the island.

Burano lace: an art that is dying out!

Burano island and its houses in striking colors

The lagoon of Venice is surrounded by many islands that have their hidden treasures. Located in the northern part of this enclosed bay Burano is well-known for its lace production since the 1500s.

Lace museum

Thanks to the patient work of many women, who repaired their husbands’ fishing nets, lace making was invented by using a needle and a thread. From this simple work they copied and created a particular stitch that gave birth to a delicate fabric made by hand. The

techniques employed are still the same of the past and are known today by a few women, who are very old.

Fishing nets

When the design has been chosen it is copied onto transparent paper and then sewn together with pieces of cloth. With a needle and a thread the paper is pierced in order to follow the pattern.

Pattern

This type of lace is created using at least four stitches, the main one being the guipure one, followed by the so-called barrette stitch used to tie the work together. The last stitches that complete the work are the net and the relief one. When the piece of lace is ready the paper is cut off, the lace is washed, starched and framed.