The Rialto Bridge

The bridge seemed a lot bigger than I imagined when I first saw it and far more impressive. At night, all lit up, it is particularly magical. It is also a lot better built than the previous versions, all of which tended to collapse or burn down every hundred years or so.

The current bridge was built between 1588 and 1591, after the last of the previous collapsing wooden versions gave up the ghost in 1524. Being Italy, it took fifty years of arguing about whether another wooden bridge or a stone one should be built, and about who should build it.

Finally they gave the go ahead to Antonio de Ponte, whose surname means bridge in Italian, and whose design is that of the current bridge. Interestingly enough Michelangelo was also considered at one stage for the job but I believe his rate was too high and they couldn’t afford him.

The design of Antonio de Ponte is very similar to the previous wooden one. It was considered pretty revolutionary at the time and was the first stone bridge to span the Grand Canal.

The shops along the sides of the bridge were built to pay for its construction and they now sell glass, masks and linen at horribly inflated prices. Browse but don’t buy is my advice. If you want to buy glass I would suggest that you first read our Venice glass shopping guide.