Rialto
Bridge
The Ponte di Rialto or Rialto Bridge may not be as famous as St Mark’s Square but it is the true heart of Venice. A marvellous feat of engineering the Rialto bridge contains a 24 high arch to allow the passage of galleys. The bridge rests on some 12000 wooden pilings that still support it over 400 years later… Designed by Antonio da Ponte (ironically Ponte means Bridge in Italian) and constructed in just 3 years from 1588 and 1591, as a replacement for the boat bridge and three wooden bridges that had spanned the Grand Canal at various times since the 12th Century. It remained the only way to cross the Grand Canal on foot until the Accademia Bridge was built in 1854.
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