The beautiful Venice, standing on the water, is known to Italians and representatives of other countries as the "City of Bridges". This name is understandable: The city has about four hundred bridges connecting 117 small islands over 150 canals. Some of these connecting links received interesting and unusual names, some stand out for their appearance, and some attract certain tourists. But today we will talk about one of the most famous and significant bridges of the city - Rialto.
The Rialto Bridge (Ponte di Rialto) stretches over the Grand Canal, connecting the two urban areas of San Polo (San Polo) and San Marco (San Marco) with each other, becoming one of the busiest places in the marvelous city on the water.
It is noteworthy that today this bridge is usually "occupied" by crowds of tourists who want to look at the cozy houses and buildings that are located around. It is Rialto considered one of the most visited places in Venice, despite the fact that the city has several bridges crossing the main channel.
Today, historians find it difficult to give an exact answer to the question. "When was the first bridge built across the Grand Canal?".
Until the 1100s, there was not a single mention in the city archives of the existence of the Rialto Bridge. Before the construction of the first bridge, the inhabitants of Venice had to resort to some tricks: they moved from one coast to another by wooden boats connected among themselves. However, the use of these unreliable structures soon had to be abandoned: constant fires and instability led to deaths.
After numerous tragic incidents, the Venetians decided to build a bridge over the Grand Canal, however, the tree, which served as the main material for the construction, again brought many problems.
The first misfortune overtook him in 1310, when he was partially burned during the uprising led by Bajamonte Tiepolo. A century later, in 1444, the bridge was again destroyed. According to one version, he could not stand the mass of spectators who gathered there to look at the wife of the Marquis Ferrara (Ferrara).
Over and over again, the masters of Venice repaired and remade the bridge, near which there was a grocery market that attracted a lot of local residents. Only in 1591 a stone structure spread across the main canal of the city, which Antonio de Ponte designed three years to build due to the uneven bottom of the lagoon.
The bridge we see today retained its original appearance: this is one arch, on both sides of which shopping malls stretch.
Rialto stands on 12 thousand piles, him length extends to 48 meters, but width is 22 meters. Shortly after the opening of the renovated bridge in 1591, city authorities allowed ships to pass under Rialto.
- Useful link: Hotels near Rialto Bridge
During the heyday of Venice, massive ships and boats, including those from distant overseas countries, stopped and unloaded in this place. Silks and spices were brought from Venice to the East, and city merchants received a unique chance to be the first to sell new products in the rest of Italy and even beyond its borders. Even though there is no trading on the bridge today, it is still quite lively: tourists have long loved it, making it one of the most photographed places in picturesque Venice.
