Bridge of Sighs

The Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri) is a famous bridge in Venice, located in the San Marco district (sestiere), only a few meters away from Piazza San Marco.

The bridge connects the Doge’s Palace (Palazzo Ducale) to the New Prison (Prigioni Nuove), crossing over the canal of Rio del Palazzo.

Admiring Ponte dei Sospiri from Ponte della Paglia, we can still imagine Casanova crossing the bridge, looking at the San Giorgio Maggiore island in the distance, sighing for freedom.

The Venetian adventurer, who was arrested in 1755, escaped a few months later from prison, but for many others, passing over the Bridge of Sighs probably offered the last glance to the outside world.

SHORT HISTORY OF THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS

Ponte dei Sospiri was built at the beginning of the 17th century by the architect Antonio Contino, son of Bernardino Contino and grandson of Antonio Da Ponte, the architect of the Rialto Bridge.

More precisely, the bridge was built between 1600 and 1603 at the behest of Doge Marino Grimani, whose coat of arms is carved on the bridge, to link the New Prison and the Doge’s Palace, where the prisoners were taken to be judged.

The bridge was made famous in the 19th century by the English poet Lord Byron, who painted it romantically in a poem called Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.

Over time, the Bridge of Sighs became a well-known symbol of Venice, with bitter-sweet connotations, mixing the suffering and the desire for freedom of those who crossed it, with the hope of an eternal love for those who pass under the bridge, today, in a gondola.

TIP: Take a gondola ride on Rio del Palazzo and, when you pass under the Bridge of Sighs, kiss your partner. According to legend, if you kiss under the bridge, you and your partner will be blessed with a love that will never die.

ARCHITECTURE OF PONTE DEI SOSPIRI

The Bridge of Sighs is an enclosed bridge built in Baroque style, with an arch span of about 11 meters.

The exterior of the bridge, in white Istrian limestone, is decorated with scrolls, volutes and pilasters, and have two small windows.

Below, on the lower arch of the bridge, there are 11 faces in bas-relief, with the one in the center depicting a lion.

The interior of the bridge is divided in two separate corridors by a stone wall, so prisoners who were entering and leaving could never meet each other.

HOW TO VISIT THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS

You can admire for free the exterior of the bridge from two points. The first is Ponte della Paglia, the bridge located on Riva degli Schiavoni – the seafront of Venice, and the second is Ponte de la Canonica, located on the other side of Ponte dei Sospiri, between Fondamenta de la Canonica and Calle Seconda de la Fava.

If you want to see the interior of the bridge, you can only do so by visiting the Doge’s Palace. But do not expect, however, that the interior would be as spectacular as the exterior.

HOW TO GET TO PONTE DEI SOSPIRI

The Bridge of Sighs can be found quite easily. From the Saint Mark’s Square, head towards the water, make left after the Doge’s Palace on Riva degli Schiavoni, with the island of San Giorgio Maggiore on your right, climb the first bridge – Ponte della Paglia, and turn to the left along Rio del Palazzo. There is the bridge!

The closest vaporetto stop is San Zaccaria, located about 150 meters away, on the waterbus Lines 1, 2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2, 7, 14, 15 and 20.