Bridges
Venice is built on more then 100 islets and the about 400 bridges are essential links amongst them. They have different sizes and shapes but when flooding arises, it becomes quite hard for boats to pass under them. The most important are three: Ponte di Rialto, Ponte dell’ Accademia, Ponte dei Sospiri. Ponte di Rialto is, with Piazza San Marco, the most representative places of Venice. In the 11th century a rudimental passage was built on boats just to connect one canal bank to the other. In the 13th it was substituted with a bridge made on wooden piles and in the 15th century the first bridge made of wood was erected. It happened because the area around the canal became the heart of Venetian Life and commerce. It was just between 1588 and 1591 that the stone bridge that sustains two rows of shops was built.
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The Ponte dell’Accademia, together with Rialto and Ponte degli Scalzi, spans the Canal Grande. It was built under the Austrian occupation to permit troops to shift faster over the canal. Originally, in 1854, was made in iron. The original one was replaced by one made of wood in 1933. But the most charming and fascinating one is, with no doubt, the Ponte dei Sospiri. It was built in 1600 to connect the Prigioni (Doge’s Palace) to the inquisitor’s room. The name was invented by Lord Byron to remind the sighs of condemned prisoners when they were led to their execution.
