The Bridge of Sighs links the Doge’s Palace and prison. Hapless convicts were bundled straight from the court, across the bridge, to the prison which is why the limestone palace on the right gleams prettily in the sunlight while the prison on the left of the canal looks, well, like a prison, I suppose.
The Bridge of Sighs is carved from limestone, was built in 1602 and links the two buildings high above the water. No getting out of that one then.
Gloomy and dank with only the decorative slits let any light in, the inside of the bridge is far more exciting. Unless you happen to be there at the same time as a large group of giggling teenagers with snapping cameras. In which case I recommend waiting until they’ve gone and then taking some time to soak up the melancholic atmosphere whilst you experience tantalising glimpses of Venetian life through the sculpted stone bars.
Peering out at the canal and the light bouncing off the limestone, it’s easy to understand why Lord Byron called it The Bridge of Sighs. As they were led to the cells, prisoners would sigh with sadness at their last view of Venice:
Oh why ever did I think I could get away with nicking that Tintoretto? Just look at that beautiful Venice! I won’t be seeing that again for a long time. Oh what a lonely life lies ahead in my damp cell, with only dead rats and my own body lice to talk to. Prisoner attempts to strike theatrical pose and fails, hindered by chains and impatient shove from guard:
Nah then, nah then, keep walking. That’s enough of that poncy nonsense. You ain’t on the bleedin’ stage now, y’know. (Or whatever the 16thC Italian equivalent was).
So we’ll leave our poor prisoner sighing on the bridge and visit Allegheney, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where there’s another Bridge of Sighs going from courthouse to jail, inspired by the Venetian one:
This one at Cambridge University, UK was also named after The Bridge of Sighs in Venice but for the student elite instead of prisoners:
And this one at Oxford University:
As far as the architecture of the bridge is concerned, the Bridge of Sighs is certainly very pleasant but there are many other structures in Venice which are far more sumptuous. The fame of the Bridge of Sighs is surely the result of one of Lord Byron’s whimsical flights of fancy. Poets, eh?