The Rialto Bridge
Oldest bridge spanning Venice's Grand Canal, rebuilt in stone.
Last updated
Didier Descouens · Public domain
Where it is
Coordinates: 45°26′17″N 12°20′10″E (45.4380, 12.3360) · Open in OpenStreetMap
Coordinates and connected clubs: the infobox of Wikipedia: Rialto Bridge (CC BY-SA 4.0). Map: drawn by Codexery from OpenStreetMap tiles.
Among the four bridges that cross the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy, the Rialto Bridge is the one with the greatest age.[1] This bridge links the San Marco and San Polo districts and has undergone multiple reconstructions, starting with a pontoon bridge erected in 1173.[1] Antonio da Ponte designed the current single-span stone structure, which was built between 1588 and 1591.[1]
Geography and history
It was replaced in 1255 by a wooden bridge with two ramps and a movable central section for tall ships.[2] In 1551 authorities requested proposals for renewal, and plans were offered by architects including Jacopo Sansovino, Palladio, and Vignola.[1] In 1181, Nicolò Barattieri constructed a pontoon bridge that became the initial dry crossing of the Grand Canal; it was named the Ponte della Moneta.[2] The wooden bridge needed constant upkeep and suffered partial burning during the 1310 rebellion led by Bajamonte Tiepolo.[1]
A crowd hurrying to witness the wedding of the Marquis of Ferrara caused the bridge to give way in 1444, and another collapse occurred in 1524.[1] The notion of constructing a stone replacement was initially put forward in 1503, and various proposals were evaluated over the next several decades.[1] Architect Vincenzo Scamozzi believed the bridge's engineering was so daring that he forecast its eventual failure.[3] A central portico is reached by two ramps, and on each side of that portico, shops line the covered ramps.[3]
What the cited sources add
The 1906 source also documents the 1255 replacement with a wooden bridge having a movable central section.[2] That same source remarks that the structure has overcome its skeptics to become a famous architectural landmark and a major visitor draw in Venice.[3][4] Molmenti's 1906 book records that the initial pontoon bridge, erected in 1181 by Nicolò Barattieri, was called the Ponte della Moneta because of a mint located nearby.[2]
References
- Wikipedia, "Rialto Bridge" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dupré, Judith, "Bridges: A History of the World's Most Spectacular Spans", Hachette/Black Dog & Leventhal Press, 2017 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Rialto Bridge" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Molmenti, "Venice: Its Individual Growth from the Earliest Beginnings to the Fall of the Republic", A.C. McClurg & Co., 13 October 1906, p. 29 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Rialto Bridge" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Povoledo, "3 Are Held on Suspicion of Plot to Attack Rialto Bridge in Venice", The New York Times, 30 March 2017 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Open Library record, ISBN 9780316473804 ("Bridges"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Rialto Bridge (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Great Bridges
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Rialto Bridge (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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