Bridge of Sighs

This article is about the bridge in Venice. For other uses, see Bridge of Sighs (disambiguation).

"Ponte dei Sospiri" redirects here. For the 1964 film, see The Avenger of Venice.

The Bridge of Sighs (Italian: Ponte dei Sospiri, Venetian: Ponte de i Sospiri) is a bridge in Venice, Italy. The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone, has windows with stone bars, passes over the Rio di Palazzo, and connects the New Prison (Prigioni Nuove) to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace. It was designed by Antonio Contin, whose uncle Antonio da Ponte designed the Rialto Bridge. It was built in 1600.^[1]

Bridge of Sighs Ponte dei Sospiri
Bridge of Sighs on Rio del Palazzo
Coordinates	45°26′03″N 12°20′27″E
Crosses	Rio di Palazzo
Characteristics
Design	Arch bridge
Material	Istrian stone
Total length	11 metres (36 ft)
History
Designer	Antonio Contin
Construction start	1600
Construction end	1603
Location
Click on the map for a fullscreen view

Etymology

The Bridge of Sighs seen by night.

The view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment. The bridge's English name was bestowed by Lord Byron in the 19th century as a translation from the Italian "Ponte dei sospiri",^[2][3] from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells.^[4][5]

In culture

Numerous other bridges around the world have been nicknamed after the Bridge of Sighs — see Bridge of Sighs (disambiguation).

The 1861 opera Le pont des soupirs ("The Bridge of Sighs") by Jacques Offenbach has the name of the bridge as a title.

The Bridge of Sighs features heavily in the plot of the 1979 film A Little Romance. One of the characters tells of a tradition that if a couple kiss in a gondola beneath the Bridge of Sighs in Venice at sunset while the church bells toll, they will be in love forever.

Bridge of Sighs is the title of the second solo studio album released in April 1974 by English rock guitarist and songwriter, Robin Trower.

A Bridge of Sighs is mentioned in the opening line of “Itchycoo Park” by the Small Faces.

Marillion, an English progressive rock band, mentions the bridge in their song "Jigsaw", singing "We are renaissance children becalmed beneath the Bridge of Sighs".^[6]

Giles Corey, an American slowcore band, likewise mentions this bridge in their song "No One Is Ever Going To Want Me".^[7]

Renowned American architect H. H. Richardson used the bridge as inspiration when designing part of the Allegheny County Jail complex in Pittsburgh. It was completed in 1888 and features a similar enclosed arched walkway that connects the courthouse and jail, therefore bearing the same name.

Gallery

• 
  Bridge of Sighs from the bridge in front of it
• 
  The bridge that stands between the Bridge of Sighs and the Grand Canal, as seen from the Bridge of Sighs itself
• 
  The Bridge of Sighs during maintenance
• 
  John Singer Sargent watercolor
• 
  The Bridge of Sighs seen from Ponte della Canonica
• 
  Lateral view from Doge's Palace
• 
  Venice, the Bridge of Sighs by J.M.W. Turner, 1840

Other bridges called the Bridge of Sighs:

• 
  Bridge of Sighs, Oxford, England
• 
  Bridge of Sighs, Cambridge, England

See also

• Bridge of Lies
• Room of Tears – Area in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel
• List of buildings and structures in Venice
• History of the Doge's Palace in Venice