Description
The Rialto Bridge is the oldest stone bridge over the Grand Canal and one of the symbols of Venice: a single white arch, 48 meters long and 22 wide, linking the districts of San Marco and San Polo beside the Rialto market. On top are two rows of shops.
For centuries it was the only way to cross the Grand Canal on foot, until 1854, when the Accademia Bridge was built. Before it there was a bridge of boats, then a wooden one, with a central section that lifted to let taller ships through.
The wooden bridge had an eventful life. In 1310 it was damaged by the retreating rebels of Bajamonte Tiepolo. In 1444 it collapsed under the crowd that had rushed to see the procession of the Marquis of Ferrara's bride.
A stone bridge was first proposed in 1503. It took almost ninety years of projects. Proposals by Sansovino, Palladio and Vignola, all with several arches, came in to the competition. Antonio da Ponte won instead, with a single arch: chosen in 1588, the bridge was finished in 1591.
The arch has a span of 28 meters and rises 7.5 meters. Underneath, it rests on twelve thousand elm piles. On top, along the ramps, are twenty-four shops, six on each side, each three meters wide.
The bridge is rich in details. On the south side the Annunciation is carved, in memory of the legendary founding date of Venice, March 25, 421, the day of the Annunciation. On the opposite side, two high reliefs show the city's protectors, St Mark and St Theodore.
On the sides, near the ramps, two plaques record that the bridge was built by Doge Pasquale Cicogna in 1591, “1170 years after the founding of the city”.
From the ramp you can also see two capitals of the nearby Palazzo dei Camerlenghi, tied to a legend: during construction many were sure the bridge would collapse, and two Venetians are said to have bet intimate parts of their own bodies on it. Their taunts are carved there: the Republic wanted it known that it heard everything.
The bridge is not just a passage, but a place of exchange: it was built next to the Rialto market, and the shops on the ramps, already there in the 1400s on the wooden bridge, brought the Republic an income, since it rented them out to maintain the bridge.
Don't miss
• The Annunciation.
• St Mark and St Theodore.
• The shops on the ramps.
Did you know?
• The bridge began as the “bridge of the Moneta”, because the old mint stood nearby.
• The name Rialto came when the bridge was tied to the market.
For centuries it was the only way to cross the Grand Canal on foot, until 1854, when the Accademia Bridge was built. Before it there was a bridge of boats, then a wooden one, with a central section that lifted to let taller ships through.
The wooden bridge had an eventful life. In 1310 it was damaged by the retreating rebels of Bajamonte Tiepolo. In 1444 it collapsed under the crowd that had rushed to see the procession of the Marquis of Ferrara's bride.
A stone bridge was first proposed in 1503. It took almost ninety years of projects. Proposals by Sansovino, Palladio and Vignola, all with several arches, came in to the competition. Antonio da Ponte won instead, with a single arch: chosen in 1588, the bridge was finished in 1591.
The arch has a span of 28 meters and rises 7.5 meters. Underneath, it rests on twelve thousand elm piles. On top, along the ramps, are twenty-four shops, six on each side, each three meters wide.
The bridge is rich in details. On the south side the Annunciation is carved, in memory of the legendary founding date of Venice, March 25, 421, the day of the Annunciation. On the opposite side, two high reliefs show the city's protectors, St Mark and St Theodore.
On the sides, near the ramps, two plaques record that the bridge was built by Doge Pasquale Cicogna in 1591, “1170 years after the founding of the city”.
From the ramp you can also see two capitals of the nearby Palazzo dei Camerlenghi, tied to a legend: during construction many were sure the bridge would collapse, and two Venetians are said to have bet intimate parts of their own bodies on it. Their taunts are carved there: the Republic wanted it known that it heard everything.
The bridge is not just a passage, but a place of exchange: it was built next to the Rialto market, and the shops on the ramps, already there in the 1400s on the wooden bridge, brought the Republic an income, since it rented them out to maintain the bridge.
Don't miss
• The Annunciation.
• St Mark and St Theodore.
• The shops on the ramps.
Did you know?
• The bridge began as the “bridge of the Moneta”, because the old mint stood nearby.
• The name Rialto came when the bridge was tied to the market.