The history of the bridges of Venice
Venice is made up of 118 little islands intersected by 150 canals and linked by 400 bridges. Only three of these cross the Grand Canal, the main water way in Venice, they are the Rialto Bridge, the Accademia Bridge and the Scalzi Bridge.
Up until 1850, the Rialto Bridge was the only one to cross the Grand Canal. It was originally made of wood and opened to allow boats to pass through. It was rebuilt in 1591 by architect Antonio Da Ponte whose design won the city’s approval from many designs coming from the greatest architects of the day including Palladio.
The arched bridge is 28 metres long and includes shops.
Within ten years the Austrians built two more bridges, one of stone in front of the railway station, called the Scalzi Bridge and the other a temporary wooden structure in front of the Accademia art gallery. The Scalzi Bridge was rebuilt in 1932 by engineer Eugenio Miozzi (1889-1979). It is a single arc bridge made of Istrian stone and substituted the wrought iron, Austrian built bridge of 1858. It was inaugurated in 1934.
The Accademia Bridge was originally built in 1854 of wrought iron and substituted in 1984 with the temporary wooden bridge which is still waiting its definitive rebuilding in stone.
The Calatrava Bridge is designed by famous Spanish engineer and architect, Santiago Calatrava. It is the fourth bridge to cross the Grand Canal and links mainland Piazzale Roma with the Santa Lucia railway station. In all this takes the number of bridges in Venice up to 431. The bridge is a single arc of 81 metres, 6 metres wide, 9 in the centre and rises 10 metres above the water at its highest point. It is made of steel with pavements and sides, a mix of glass and Istrian stone with railings in bronze.
Another famous bridge in Venice is the Sospiri which can be found near St Mark’s beside the Doge’s Palace. It was built at the beginning of the 1600s to link the old prisons of the Doge’s Palace with the new prisons on the other side of the canal.
Related contents
Bridge of the Costituzione
The bridge of the Costituzione was inaugurated on September 11th 2008 at 11,44pm. It is the newest bridge and it connects the railway station to where the mainland meets Venice – Piazzale Roma.
Aperto il quarto ponte sul Canal Grande
Sep-9-2008
di Roberta Nalesso | redazione VeneziaSì
Venerdì 12 settembre 2008 Venezia si è risvegliata con un ponte in più sul Canal Grande. Il quarto ponte è stato aperto a sorpresa alle 23.44 di giovedì 11 settembre e già nella mattinata di venerdì è stato attraversato da centinaia di veneziani e turisti.
Bridge of the Scalzi
The bridge of Scalzi is also called the Railway Bridge because it is near the railway station, Santa Lucia. It was built in 1934 by engineer Eugenio Miozzi.
La notte di Calatrava
Aug-8-2007
di Roberta Nalesso | redazione VeneziaSì
Ieri notte, assiepati lungo le rive del Canal Grande, abbiamo assistito al passaggio, tra fischi e applausi, dell'arcata centrale del ponte progettato dall'architetto spagnolo Santiago Calatrava: un gigantesco arco di acciaio rosso, simile allo scheletro di un animale preistorico, lungo quasi 60 metri e pesante 250 tonnellate, ha sfilato lentamente sulle acque piatte del Canal Grande, chiuso al traffico per l'occasione, tra due file di veneziani e turisti curiosi, giornalisti e fotografi.
Ieri notte, assiepati lungo le rive del Canal Grande, abbiamo assistito al passaggio, tra fischi e applausi, dell'arcata centrale del ponte progettato dall'architetto spagnolo Santiago Calatrava: un gigantesco arco di acciaio rosso, simile allo scheletro di un animale preistorico, lungo quasi 60 metri e pesante 250 tonnellate, ha sfilato lentamente sulle acque piatte del Canal Grande, chiuso al traffico per l'occasione, tra due file di veneziani e turisti curiosi, giornalisti e fotografi.Accademia Bridge
The Accademia bridge is one of four that cross the Grand Canal together with the Rialto Bridge, the Scalzi Bridge and the new Calatrava Bridge.
The Palio of the Ancient Maritime Republics
It's a yearly boat race between the four Italian Maritime Republics that
sailed the seas in medieval times. It's hosted, in turn, on the
Mediterranean sea at Amalfi and Genoa, on the Arno in Pisa and on the
lagoon in Venice, to celebrate the history and memories of
the four maritime cities.
Il Ponte di Rialto tra storia e natura
If by any chance, passing over Rialto Bridge, your hand runs over the thick stone railing, smoothed from centuries of similar hands, you can say you have touched history but also something else…something that goes beyond history.
Comune di Venezia
Il Comune di Venezia, attraverso le sue sezioni Cultura e Spettacolo e Circuito Cinema, promuove ed organizza iniziative ed eventi in città, cercando di offrire al navigatore molteplici occasioni di avvicinamento e di approfondimento delle realtà culturali presenti in città.
Il Ponte di Calatrava
Jun-7-2007
di Roberta Nalesso e Marco Scurati | redazione VeneziaSì
Dopo 10 anni di rinvii e polemiche, e costi
lievitati fino a 10 milioni (dai 3,5 iniziali) e infinite perizie tecniche, è
ormai prossima la messa in opera del quarto ponte sul
Canal Grande?
Dopo 10 anni di rinvii e polemiche, e costi
lievitati fino a 10 milioni (dai 3,5 iniziali) e infinite perizie tecniche, è
ormai prossima la messa in opera del quarto ponte sul
Canal Grande? Rialto Bridge
Rialto Bridge is the most famous and the more ancient bridge in Venice, until 1854 it was the only bridge to cross
the Grand Canal. Today it's one of the three bridges that cross the Grand canal, together with the Accademia and the Scalzi bridge.
The history of Venice through the centuries
A short trip into the history of Venice, from the first settlements in the lagoon after the Barbaric invasions, through the prestige and the opulence of the Serenissima Republic, the greatest italian sea power, until the present-day problems.
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