Venice Rialto Bridge - Bridge of Sighs

The Grand Canal

Illustrating the uniqueness of Venice, this great 'road of water' is the most beautiful street in Venice. One can glide along the Grand Canal and be surrounded by the most opulent architecture. The atmosphere is absolutely unforgettable, as the splendour of the Grand Canal is unparalleled. To meander along the canal by gondola is literally to take a journey through Venetian history.
Unlike most Main Streets, Canal Grande does not go in a straight line; rather, it flows as though it were a woman's body, in curves.
Perhaps that is why it is always referred to as female. No matter how negative a person is about Venice, he/she cannot help but gasp on first seeing this magnificent body of water.

Rialto Bridge

The Rialto Bridge's 24-foot arch was designed to allow passage of galleys, and the massive structure was built on some 12,000 wooden pilings that still support the bridge more than 400 years later. The architect, Antonio da Ponte, competed against such eminent designers as Michelangelo and Palladio for the contract.
The bridge has three walkways: two along the outer balustrades, and a wider central walkway leading between two rows of small shops that sell jewelry, linens, Murano glass, and other items for the tourist trade.

Accademia Bridge

The Ponte dell’Accademia was built in 1854, during the Austrian occupation. One of the three bridges spanning the Canal Grande. The Austrians envisioned a wide bridge, enabling troops to move more quickly over the broad canal. Engineer Miozzi (who worked a lot in Venice during the first part of twentieth century) , realized a structure that first was maded with wood and later was reinforced with steel loosing its main peculiarity

Scalzi Bridge

Old Austrian bridge, on this part of Gran Canal, represented an age that was finishing. In this period of deep transformation, project by engineer Eugenio Miozzi was chosen to subsitute the rectilinear iron bridge (all the iron bridges in Venice had been built by Austrians).

Ca'd'Oro

This beautiful Gothic palace along the Grand Canal of Venice was originally covered in gold leafs, vermilion and ultramarine decorations. The palace reveals Moorish influence in its roof and sinuous pointed arches.
The only problem with the use of this building as an art museum is that the Ca' d'Oro is so opulent that its architecture and decor compete with the works. It was built in the early 1400s, and its name translates as "House of Gold," although the gilding that once covered its facade eroded away long ago, leaving softly textured pink and white stone carved into lacy Gothic patterns. Historians compare its majesty to that of the Ducal Palace. The building was meticulously restored in the early 20th century by philanthropist Baron Franchetti, who attached it to a smaller nearby palazzo (Ca' Duodo), today part of the Ca' d'Oro complex. The interconnected buildings contain the baron's valuable private collection of paintings, sculpture, and furniture, all donated to the Italian government during World War I.

The Bridge of Sighs

The Bridge of Sighs received its name in the 17th century, because the prisoners who passed through it on their way to the prison cells on the other side would most likely see the beautiful sight of the lagoon and the island of S.Giorgio and freedom for the last time. However, it was only in the 19th century that it came to be called the 'Bridge of Sighs' after Lord Byron's famous reference in his poem Childe Harold's Pilgrimage "I stood in Venice on the Bridge of Sighs, a palace and prison on each hand".
In reality, the days of inquisitions and torture were over by the time the bridge was built and only small time crooks were kept in the prison cells.
The prison building is older than the Doge's palace and was at one time used during the inquisition by the Church during the Middle Ages (when people were suspected of being witches or non believers and tortured).

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