The Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri) connects the east side of the
Doge’s Palace to the Piombi, the old Venetian prisons. This world-famous bridge first began to be known as the Bridge of Sighs in the 1800s, the Romantic Period, when it was imagined that the prisoners would sigh in regret as they crossed the bridge from the courts to the prisons, looking out over the lagoon through the small windows. Built in 1614 and designed by Antonio Contino, the bridge has a typically
Baroque design in elegant white stone from Istria. Closed and roofed, it has two separate corridors with a wall between. The arched structure appears to be suspended above the waters of the Rio di Palazzo and is now one of the most famous sights in Venice.
