Ponte dei Sospiri

«The bridge os sighs» is such an iconic part of Venitian history that no tourist should miss.
This bridge connected the Doge’s palace (where interrogations would take place) with the prison cellars and was built in 1600.
Why the name may you ask? This was the last sight of the outside life prisoners would see before veing escorted in the secluded cellars of the Venitian prisons.
It has, nowadays, been dubber as a romantic spot, thanks to the legendary (but doubtful) fame that, should you kiss whilst riding a gondola under said bridge, yoi are granted a lasting relationship filled with joy and love.
I personally can vouch it does NOT work.
But, the site and the history makes this an amazing site to see.

Beautiful. I was happy to see how good the Bridge of Sighs looks after its’ three-​year, € 2,800,000 restoration. Last time we saw it … 2005 … it looked terrible, and I read that pieces had fallen off into the canal.
Mille Grazie to Pietro Dottor, and the advertisers who made the renovation of the Bridge of Sighs possible. Five Stars!

Pff, pfft, pffuit… autant d’onomatopée qui pourrait presque suffire à l’évocation du Pont des Soupirs. Romantique à souhait avec la possibilité de passer en dessous et de le traverser en gondole vénitienne.
Sa petite histoire est nettement moins romanesque. Unique pont couvert de la ville, il se trouve dans le quartier de San Marco. Construit en 1602, il servait à établir une liaison entre le palais des Doges et les cachots des «nouvelles prisons», les anciennes étant communicantes et situés au ras de l’eau.
Les prisonniers de se croisaient jamais grâce la construction à l’intérieur d’un double couloir. Ces condamnées poussaient leurs dernières lamentations sur le chemin qui les menaient aux cachots, d’où le nom attribué à ce pont.

This is probably one of the more «famous» sights in Venice. This small bridge connects the Doge’s Palace (and courtrooms) to the adjacent prison across the canal.
We first saw the bridge from outisde, and then again while touring the Palace. It’s really not that exciting, but it’s pretty cool to look out from the bridge and imagine what many of those prisoners must have thought. There isn’t really much of a view, but I can’t imagine what it was like, knowing that might be your last glimpse of sunlight for awhile.
This is one of those things to do so you can say you did. Seeing it from both perspectives (inside and outside) is a must.

Gayle and I had the opportunity to experience the Bridge of Signs from both the inside and outside. We did the tour of the Palazzo Ducale and got a taste of the doomed prison life that folks making that short journey faced. The various cramped and dark prison cells across and above the Bridge only emphasized that sobering point.

An interesting piece of Venice history as this bridge is surrounded by an old prison in the palace. Quite a stark reminder of the days gone by and how prisoners were treated and held a long time ago in the palace and so on.
It is a huge landmark for the gondolas and they all make their way under the bridge and along the prison walls.
We walked over it as once you enter the palace you get to traverse the bridge. I don’t believe there is any other way as the entrance and walk way is connected to either side of the palace I believe.

If you’re in Venice and do the tour of the Doges Palace, you will see the famous Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri in Italian). This bridge was designed by architect Antonio Contino, whose uncle designed the Rialto Bridge across the Grand Canal. The bridge was completed in 1602 to connect the Doges Palace with the jail across the Rio di Palazzo river. This might have been the first building-​to-​building bridge ever built.
The courthouse was in the ostentatious Doges Palace, and after the convicts had their court hearing they would cross the bridge back over to the depressing New Prison, hence the sighs as the prisoner’s had their last look at sunlight and the outside world for quite some time. The enclosed bridge was constructed of white limestone and has patterned stone grills covering the windows which block most of the view. Not much of a view, but something.
If you take a gondola ride ($ 150 plus) you will probably cross under the Bridge of Sighs. I’ll give it five stars for being famous. Guitarist Robin Trower did a great song with the same name and I assume it is the same thing but you can’t tell from the sparse lyrics.

Le pont des soupirs en amoureux, c’est le mieux qu’on puisse faire, quand on avance en sa direction, qu’on le vois devant nous, ça à un côté romantique surtout quand on sais que le pont a pour coutume, d’embrasser sa ou son bien aimé quand on passé en dessous.
Et encore je né l’ai pas vu de nuit encore une fois, dommage que l’eau gache tout. :/

Where? Entre le Palais des Doges aux Nouvelles Prisons (qui ont déjà quelques décennies, précisons-​le)
When? 2 solutions: 1. A voir de l’extérieur: pas maintenant car il est entouré d’énormes panneaux publicitaires qui le cache presque en totalité. 2. De l’intérieur: lors de la visite du Palais Ducale
Why? Parce qu’il est tellement bon de se faire frisonner en traversant direction les cachots… et qu’on se surprend à soupirer!
Who? Le couple de touriste qui beugle à côté de moi & l’occasion de mon 2ème soupir
What? Le côté mystique de cette traversée, surtout lorsqu’on a visité le Palais juste avant

Die Ponte dei Sospiri wurde 1603 von Antonio Contin, dem Neffen von Antonio del (da) Ponte (Mozarts Liberettist Lorenzo da Ponte war mit denen nicht verwandt), im Zusammenhang mit dem neuen Gefängnis Palazzo Prigioni erbaut.
Bei der Besichtigung des Dogenplastes kann man über die Brücke in den neuen Gefängnisbau gehen. Die Brücke ist in der Mitte durch eine Mauer geteilt: Es muß also heftigen Verkehr zwischen Gefängnis und Dogenpalast, der ja auch Gerichtsgebäude war, gegeben haben. Für die Richter und anderen Staatsbediensteten führt eine geheime Treppe im Dogenpalast zur Seufzerbrücke.

According to Wikipedia, this famous landmark has the following story:
The Bridge of Sighs (Italian: Ponte dei Sospiri) is one of many bridges in Venice. The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone and has windows with stone bars. It passes over the Rio di Palazzo and connects the old prisons to the interrogation rooms in the Doge’s Palace. It was designed by Antoni Contino (whose uncle Antonio da Ponte had designed the Rialto Bridge), and built in 1602.
The view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment. The bridge name, given by Lord Byron in the 19^th century, comes from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice out the window before being taken down to their cells. In reality, the days of inquisitions and summary executions were over by the time the bridge was built, and the cells under the palace roof were occupied mostly by small-​time criminals. Also, they could barely see any view from inside the Bridge due to the stone grills covering the windows.
A local legend says that lovers will be assured eternal love if they kiss on a gondola at sunset under the bridge.
Oh yeah?
I bet the gondoliers put that story about so that they could charge overtime for night work.
Anyway, the poor old bridge is being renovated over the next three years. However, rather than cover up the poor old dear, the authorities have draped some ‘stylish’ stuff around. The views were shot from the Riva and from my hotel room.
So. Four stars until they get the work done.
If you can’t be bothered to haul ass to Venice, you can opt for Oxord to view this one, which really does look a bit more stylish right now.
.

Urgent update: (28.07.2010, 9.56 BST) Qyper
has kindly pointed out that (in his opinion) photos should only be displayed upon which the respective place is recognisable.
Please therefore note that the photos are not a full depiction of the Bridge of Sighs. They are a depiction of the material presently covering it (and in its immediate proximity). Should you nevertheless be sighing and desperately seeking the bridge, then the photos might serve as a useful orientation.