Venice Bridges That Take You Everywhere
Venice is one of those intriguing cities that nearly everyone wants to go to, mainly because it is built on water and you have to cross bridges continuously to get yourself from one place to another. There are many flights going directly to Venice from Gatwick Airport so, once you have booked your Gatwick hotels with parking, in just two hours you could be sitting in a gondola paddling down a Venetian canal. What an interesting place to visit next weekend or at Easter!
Because of the geographical position of Venice, the bridges are the real drawcards of the city, and are the most poignant features of Venice. Furthermore, every bridge, from the tiniest to the biggest, and from the most private to the most public, adds its own character to this amazing city, and offers an interesting sight for tourists to experience. There are nearly 400 bridges dotted around the city, with some being more attractive then the rest, while others have more historic significance.
The Grand Canal boasts four bridges and they are the most well known bridges in Venice. They are used every day by locals making their way to work and tourists who come to simply look at them. They are constructed on the most important canals of the city, which splits Venice into two. These bridges are of course tourist attractions and they make the important link between the two banks of the waterway and make travel to and from the different parts of the city a lot easier.
The Rialto Bridge is the most famous of Venice’s bridges and was constructed in 1175 even though the structure that can be seen today was constructed in 1588. The bridge that can be seen today was built in 1588. The first bridge was actually made of a line of boats and thus floated but this wasn’t used for long when a permanently fixed bridge replaced it in 1265.
Until the nineteenth century the Rialto Bridge was the Grand Canal’s sole bridge, but by 1854 the Academia Bridge was built of steel. However, this bridge didn’t last for long as it deteriorated due to corrosion. Even though stone was the preferred material for bridge building, the second Academia bridge was built out of wood and that is the one that is still standing today.
The next bridge to be constructed over the Grand Canal, was named the Scalzi Bridge. It was situated next to the railway station, so sometimes it is referred to as “Station Bridge”. This was constructed by Austrians around 1858 in iron but today, after a rebuild job, it is made from stone. The Grand Canal’s final bridge is called the Constitution Bridge and was constructed in 2008. It was constructed in a way that makes it appear as if it is in the Old Venetian style. The construction materials are a mix of stone, bronze, steel and glass
The Grand Canal’s four bridges are not the only ones that can be seen in Venice. There are other famous ones like the Bridge of Sighs and the Bridge of Fists.
