Bridge of Sighs

The Bridge of Sighs (Italian: Ponte dei 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.

Etymology

thumb|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", from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells.

In culture

Urban design

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

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.

Literature

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.

Music

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

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. It is mentioned also in "A Song For Europe" from Roxy Music's's 1973 Album Stranded: "Through silken waters my gondola glides, and the bridge – it sighs..."

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

Giles Corey, an American slowcore band, likewise mentions the bridge in their song "No One Is Ever Going To Want Me".

Gallery

File:Venise - Pont des Soupirs.jpg|Bridge of Sighs from the bridge in front of it

File:View from the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri), Venice Italy.jpg|The bridge that stands between the Bridge of Sighs and the Grand Canal, as seen from the Bridge of Sighs itself

File:Ponte dei Sospiri during maintenance.jpg|The Bridge of Sighs during maintenance

File:Brooklyn Museum - The Bridge of Sighs - John Singer Sargent.jpg|John Singer Sargent watercolor

File:0 Venise, le pont des Soupirs franchissant le Rio di Palazzo o Rio della Canonica (2).jpg|The Bridge of Sighs seen from Ponte della Canonica

File:Pont des Soupirs Venise.jpg|Lateral view from Doge's Palace

File:The Bridge of Sighs YORAG-65.jpg|The Bridge of Sighs by William Etty, 1835

File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Venice, the Bridge of Sighs - Google Art Project.jpg|Venice, the Bridge of Sighs by J.M.W. Turner, 1840

File:Inside the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri), Venice (37738363312).jpg|Interior of the bridge

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Other bridges called the Bridge of Sighs:

Bridge of Sighs (Oxford) geograph-3610290-by-David-Hallam-Jones.jpg|Bridge of Sighs, Oxford, England

Bridge of Sighs, St John's College, Cambridge, UK - Diliff.jpg|Bridge of Sighs, Cambridge, England

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References

External links

Bridge of Sighs, Venice
Venice Tourisml Guide
Doge's Palace Venice