Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri)

The small but iconic bridge in Venice is situated not far from St Mark’s Square but can only be seen from nearby Ponte della Paglia and Ponte della Canonica and can be easily missed if one doesn’t watch in the right direction when crossing this two bridges.

Built in white Istrian limestone in the early 17th century, the bridge overrides Rio di Palazzo connecting the Doge’s Palace to the so-called New Prisons. The Bridge of Sighs is enclosed and covered on all sides and it has windows with stone bars. It is separated into two parallel corridors, one directly connects the Prisons to the chambers of the Magistrato alle Leggi, while the other linked the prisons to the State Advocacy rooms and the Parlatorio.

The name of the bridge comes from the idea, dating back to the Romantic period, that prisoners passing from the courtroom to the cell would sigh knowing that they were seeing freedom for the last time here through the small windows before serving their sentence in the cells of the New Prisons. The english name was given by Lord Byron as a translation from the original italian Ponte dei Sospiri.