MUSEUMS

Thanks to the work of the Adriana Marcello Foundation, in 1978, the Venice city council founded the “Consortium for Burano Lace”, to revive and re-evaluate the ancient art of the Merletto di Burano, or Burano Lace. After ordering and cataloguing historical documents and drawings, the Lace Museum was opened in the building which had been Burano Lace school from 1872 to 1970.

Originally a patrician’s palace in typical Flamboyant Gothic style, in 1659 it became the residence of Bishop Marco Giustinian who later bought and donated the property to the Torcello diocese. In 1805 the Torcello diocese was abolished, and the palace became Murano’s town hall. The museum was created in 1861 and was housed on the first floor, but the rapid growth of the collection lead the museum to occupy the whole building. Since 1923, when Murano was annexed to Venice, the museum became part of the Venice Civic Museums.