Ponte di Rialto

Bridge Venice, Italy

The Rialto Bridge is the most famous of the bridges that cross the Grand Canal; in this area, which historically housed the food market, there has always been some bridge, at first, a simple bridge of boats, and later a real wooden bridge, made of two inclined ramps with a mobile section in the middle, to allow the passage of ships. The current Rialto Bridge is a stone arch, constructed under the supervision of Antonio da Ponte, between 1588 and 1591. The construction was made challenging by the conditions of instability and by the height of the sea bottom. The structure, very similar in style to the previous wooden bridge, is formed by two inclined ramps, with stores on each side, covered by a portico.