5 Beautiful Bridges to see in Venice

5 Beautiful Bridges to see in Venice

Image; Wikimedia Commons

Venice would not be Venice without the bodies of water that surround the city and the rivers and canals that run through it. There are about 150 canals in the city; where the business district is made of islets and canals! Most of the photos you see of Venice are those of Gondolas and Gondoliers. And talking of Gondoliers, did you know that Gondoliers are some of the highest-paid professions in Italy and that one has to go through rigorous training to be certified? And also that there is only one female gondolier in the whole world, and she is in Venice? Oh, you don’t know what a gondolier is, we will meet them in this article, but they are the people who operate the boats which take people on canal or tours around the city. 

The city has more than 400 very beautiful bridges, and even though we cannot cover all the four hundred in one article, here are five of them!

1. The Rialto Bridge

Image: Pixabay

The beautiful bridge is the crossing over the Grand Canal. While there are many bridges over this particular canal, this bridge is the main pedestrian crossing. The bridge is the oldest of the four bridges crossing the Grand Canal and connects San Polo to San Marco. Rialto became an important part of Venice in 1097 and people and goods needed access to it, a boat was therefore introduced to ferry people across. Because of the increase in population and safety issues with the boat, the bridge was built in 1264. The bridge was designed by Antonio da Ponte and Antonio Contino when they won a completion set by the city to get a designer. The Rialto Bridge was initially made of wood but in 1591, it was remodeled and a stone was used instead. The bridge is 48 meters long and 23 meters wide. 

The arched bridge is an achievement of the renaissance. The bridge is a beauty in itself and one even more exciting thing about it is that it crosses the narrowest part of the Grand canal. It also has a single arch that supports the two arcades which contain shops and roadways.

2. Ponte dell’Accademia

Image: Wikimedia Commons

This spectacular bridge crosses the Grand Canal at the Galleria dell Academia. The initial Academy Bridge was replaced in the 1930s by a wooden bridge which was reinforced to the current one which was built in 1985 to include the use of steel since it was deemed dangerous to use. 

The arch is made of wood, surprisingly, and most other parts of the bridge made of steel reinforcements. Apart from the beauty of the bridge, one can access the Galleria del Academia from the bridge, one of the best museums in the region. It is situated near the canal’s entrance into the St Mark’s Basin and it connects the San Marco and Dorsoduro districts and is located between Campo Della Carita and Campo san Vidal. There are also small beautiful restaurants just near the bridge so you can enjoy the bridge as well as a meal as you take in the sights of Venice!

3. Calatrava Bridge 

Image: Wikimedia Commons

This is one of the most recent bridges in Venice. It is also called ‘Ponte la Constituzione’. In a city of ancient buildings and architecture, this bridge stands out, if you ask me! The bridge is named after its designer Santiago Calatrava and was completed in 2008. It is a useful bridge since it connects Santa Lucia Rail Station and Piazzale Roma. 

This bridge also has many names! It was originally named quarto Ponte sul Canal Grande since it is the fourth bridge over the Grand Canal. The bridge was then named Ponte la Constituzione to mark the 60th anniversary of the Italian Constitution. Unlike the conventional way that the other bridges were made in Venice, this footbridge is made of stone, steel, and glass! 

Calatrava has designed many other structures including the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia and the Olympics Sports Complex in Athens, the Alamillo Bridge in Seville as well as other bridges around the world. There was a lawsuit against Calatrava for overlooking some architectural inputs in the design and building of the bridge. Because the city of Venice is a tourist city, and every bridge serves tourists, the dragging of suitcases on the bridge was causing wear and tear, cost overruns as well as defects in the construction.

4. Ponte Della Liberta

Image: Wikimedia Commons

This is one of the longest bridges in Venice. It was opened in 1933 and renamed from Ponte Littorio by the Italian dictator Roberto Mussolini and it was to mark the liberation of Italy from oppression. The bridge joins the mainland to Venice’s central business district, the islands. 

This means that if you are going to Venice using a car or train, you must use this bridge, so please enjoy the sights while on it! The arch bridge is about 4 kilometers long, the distance between the mainland and the islands. 

5. Bridge of Sighs 

Image: Pixabay

This bridge has one of the most interesting backgrounds. Because it links the interrogation rooms in the Doge’s Palace to the New Prison and it is said prisoners would get to see the last glance of the city before they were led to the prisons! And yes, there is a river beneath it between the two buildings which makes it even more interesting. Oh, also, because it was believed the prisoners sighed as the took in the last views of the city on their way to serve their sentence is why this bridge is named ‘Bridge of the Sighs’! Tourists on gondoliers can see the bridge, take photographs, and enjoy the history lessons while on the river.

 It was designed by Antonio Contino in the 15th Century; and has an arched feature; the bridge is also visible from Ponte de Paglia and Canonica Bridge. It is also an exceptional illustration of the baroque bridge architecture; the arch is also decorated with faces and carvings on its lower side; it is made of white limestone.  

The bride, also known as Ponte dei Sospini in Italian passes over the Rio di Palazzo.