DK Travel : Venice : Architecture

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Ponte degli Scalzi

One of the city’s most marvellous lookout points, over fascinating palaces and boats, can be had from this elegant 40-m (130-ft) long bridge, 7 m (23 ft) above the Grand Canal. Named after the nearby monastery of bare-footed monks, this 1934 structure in Istrian stone by Eugenio Miozzi replaced an Austrian-built iron bridge.
Ponte dei Pugni

Fistfights (pugni ) between rival clans took place here until 1705 when they were outlawed for their violence (see Campo San Barnaba). Stone footprints marked the starting point of the combat, but contestants usually ended up in the canal.
Ponte dei Tre Archi

A favourite subject for artists, this unusual three-arched high bridge dating from 1688 crosses the Cannaregio canal close to where it joins the lagoon. It was the work of engineer Andrea Tirali, nicknamed Tiranno (the tyrant) by his employees.
Ponte del Fontego

A Neo-Classical bridge featuring gondola bas-reliefs .
Ponte della Libertà

Truth and irony combine in the name of this 3.6-km (2-mile) “Bridge of Freedom”: the first full link between the mainland and Venice was put in place in 1933, when Italy was living under Fascism. The construction was preceded 86 years earlier by the Austrian-built railway bridge across the lagoon. Before that, the city relied entirely on boats.
Ponte delle Tette

When an increase in the practice of sodomy was recorded in the 1400s, the city’s prostitutes were encouraged to display their feminine wares at the windows over the “Bridge of Breasts”.
Ponte Lungo

Marvellous views of Piazza San Marco should entice visitors to this 33-m (110-ft) long iron bridge. Halfway along Giudecca, from 1340 it served as a link with newly reclaimed tidal flats.
Rialto Bridge

The design of this most famous Venetian bridge at the narrowest point of the Grand Canal was hotly contested – leading 16th-century architects Michelangelo, Sansovino and Palladio all entered the competition, but lost out to the imposing winning project of 1588–91 by Antonio da Ponte. There were two previous bridges on this site; a timber bridge which collapsed in 1444 under the weight of a crowd, then a drawbridge, raised for the passage of tall-masted sailing ships (see Rialto Market).
San Giorgio Maggiore

Palladio’s harmoniously proportioned church (1566–1610), inspired by Greek temple design, stands across the water from Piazza San Marco. The interior is offset by two dynamic paintings by Tintoretto from 1594, The Last Supper and Gathering the Manna , on the chancel walls. The bell tower offers views over Venice. Don’t miss the monks’ Gregorian chants every Sunday at 11am.
San Pantalon

Two treasures lurk behind a ramshackle façade: a nail from the True Cross in a rich Gothic altar and the overwhelming ceiling by Gian Antonio Fumiani, a labour of love (1680–1704) which ended when he purportedly plunged from the scaffolding to his death.