ITALY - Venice, Bridge of Sighs

ITALY stamp



Location of VENICE in ITALY

Venice (Italian : Venezia, Venetian: Venesia ; in honor of goddess Venus) is located in northern Italy known both for tourism and for industry, and is the capital of the region Veneto. The city historically was the capital of an independent city-state. Venice has been known as the "La Dominante", "Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals". Luigi Barzini, writing in The New York Times, described it as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man". Venice has also been described by the Times Online as being one of Europe's most romantic cities.

The city stretches across 117 small islands in the marshy Venetian Lagoon along the Adriatic Sea in northeast Italy. The saltwater lagoon stretches along the shoreline between the mouths of the Po (south) and the Piave (north) Rivers.

The Republic of Venice was a major maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially silk, grain and spice trade) and art in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th century. This made Venice an extremely wealthy city throughout most of its history. It is also known for its several considerable artistic achievements, and history of excellence in most of those aspects, notably during the Renaissance period. Venice is also famous for its musical, particularly operatic, history, and its most famous son in this field is Antonio Vivaldi.

The Bridge of Sighs (Italian: Ponte dei Sospiri) is the famoust bridge in Venice. The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone and has windows with stone bars. It passes over the Rio di Palazzo and connects the old prisons to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace. It was designed by Antoni Contino (whose uncle Antonio da Ponte had designed the Rialto Bridge), and built in 1602.

The view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment. The bridge name, given by Lord Byron in the 19th century, comes from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice out the window before being taken down to their cells. In reality, the days of inquisitions and summary executions were over by the time the bridge was built, and the cells under the palace roof were occupied mostly by small-time criminals. Also, they could barely see any view from inside the Bridge due to the stone grills covering the windows.

A local legend says that lovers will be granted everlasting love and bliss if they kiss on a gondola at sunset under the bridge.

UNESCO World Heritage Site :

VENICE AND ITS LAGOON

Date of inscription : 1987

UNESCO brief description :

Founded in the 5th century and spread over 118 small islands, Venice became a major maritime power in the 10th century. The whole city is an extraordinary architectural masterpiece in which even the smallest building contains works by some of the world's greatest artists such as Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese and others.

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Postcard sent by Susanna, as "susie-ee"
Private swap - Reference IT002

Venice - Bridge of Sighs
Venezia - Ponte dei Sospiri

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