View source for Bridge of Sighs

{{Short description|Bridge over a canal in Venice}}
{{About|the bridge in Venice}}
{{Redirect|Ponte dei Sospiri|the 1964 film|The Avenger of Venice}}
{{use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{citation style|reason=Internet Archive isn't the publisher, and at least one title doesn't match.|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox bridge
 | name              = Bridge of Sighs
 | bridge_name       = Bridge of Sighs
 | native_name       = Ponte dei Sospiri
 | image             = Antonio Contin - Ponte dei sospiri (Venice).jpg
 | image_size        = 300px
 | caption           = Bridge of Sighs on Rio del Palazzo
 | mapframe          = yes
 | mapframe-caption  = Click on the map for a fullscreen view
 | mapframe-zoom     = 12
 | mapframe-marker   = monument
 | mapframe-frame-width = 300
 | crosses           = Rio di Palazzo
 | design            = [[Arch bridge]]
 | material          = [[Istrian stone]]
 | length            = {{convert|11|m|ft}}
 | designer          = Antonio Contin
 | begin             = 1600
 | complete          = 1603
}}

The '''Bridge of Sighs''' ([[Italian language|Italian]]: ''Ponte dei Sospiri'', {{langx|vec|Ponte de i Sospiri}}) is a bridge in [[Venice]], Italy. The enclosed bridge is made of white limestone, has windows with stone bars, passes over the Rio di Palazzo, and connects the New Prison (''Prigioni Nuove'') to the interrogation rooms in the [[Doge's Palace, Venice|Doge's Palace]]. It was designed by Antonio Contin, whose uncle [[Antonio da Ponte]] designed the [[Rialto Bridge]]. It was built in 1600.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyofbridges.com/famous-bridges/bridge-of-sighs/ |title=Five Remarkable Bridges that are more than 400-Years-Old |publisher=History of Bridges |website=[[Internet Archive]] |access-date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507073520/http://www.historyofbridges.com/famous-bridges/bridge-of-sighs/ |archive-date=7 May 2021 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Etymology==
[[File:Bridge of Sighs sea facade night 2.jpg|thumb|The Bridge of Sighs seen by night.]]
The view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment. The bridge's English name was bestowed by [[Lord Byron]] in the 19th century as a translation from the Italian "Ponte dei sospiri",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historychannel.com.au/articles/five-remarkable-bridges-that-are-more-than-400-years-old/|title=Bridge of Sighs - Legend, Design and Interesting Facts|publisher=History Channel on Foxtel|date=21 July 2013|access-date=26 June 2017|archive-date=27 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327103249/https://www.historychannel.com.au/articles/five-remarkable-bridges-that-are-more-than-400-years-old/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dKVhAAAAcAAJ&q=bridge+of+sighs++prisoners%27+sighs+Lord+byron%2C&pg=PA662|title=The Poetical Works of Lord Byron: with Life of the Author and Copious Notes. Beautifully Illustrated. Family Edition|first=George Gordon Byron Baron|last=Byron|date=4 January 1863|publisher=Milner&Sowerby|via=Google Books}}</ref> from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.elitereaders.com/the-grim-history-of-the-bridge-of-sighs-in-venice/|title=The Grim History of the Bridge of Sighs in Venice|date=20 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Thomas |first1=Keith |title=The Bridge of Sighs |url=http://www.questpa.org/blog/5whpyltcfzllsj8dx7yb4x2ee8k9j3 |website=Quest Ministries |access-date=8 September 2021 |archive-date=8 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908151515/http://www.questpa.org/blog/5whpyltcfzllsj8dx7yb4x2ee8k9j3 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==In culture==
Numerous other bridges around the world have been nicknamed after the Bridge of Sighs — see [[Bridge of Sighs (disambiguation)]].

The 1861 opera ''[[Le pont des soupirs]]'' ("The Bridge of Sighs") by [[Jacques Offenbach]] has the name of the bridge as a title. It is mentioned in A Song For Europe from Roxy Musics 1973 Album Stranded, Through silken waters my gondola glides , And the bridge it sighs"

The Bridge of Sighs features heavily in the plot of the 1979 film ''[[A Little Romance]]''. One of the characters tells of a tradition that if a couple kiss in a gondola beneath the Bridge of Sighs in Venice at sunset while the church bells toll, they will be in love forever.

''[[Bridge of Sighs (Robin Trower album)|Bridge of Sighs]]'' is the title of the second solo studio album released in April 1974 by English rock guitarist and songwriter, [[Robin Trower]].

A Bridge of Sighs is mentioned in the opening line of “[[Itchycoo Park]]” by the [[Small Faces]].

[[Marillion]], an English [[progressive rock]] band, mentions the bridge in their song "Jigsaw", singing "We are renaissance children becalmed beneath the Bridge of Sighs".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.songtexte.com/songtext/marillion/jigsaw-6bd456da.html |title=Jigsaw Songtext |publisher=songtexte.com |website=[[Internet Archive]] |access-date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205151632/https://www.songtexte.com/songtext/marillion/jigsaw-6bd456da.html |archive-date=5 December 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Giles Corey (band)|Giles Corey]], an American slowcore band, likewise mentions this bridge in their song "No One Is Ever Going To Want Me".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://genius.com/Giles-corey-no-one-is-ever-going-to-want-me-lyrics |title=No One Is Ever Going To Want Me |publisher=genius.com |website=[[Internet Archive]] |access-date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211015150011/https://genius.com/Giles-corey-no-one-is-ever-going-to-want-me-lyrics |archive-date=15 October 2021 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Renowned American architect [[H. H. Richardson]] used the bridge as inspiration when designing part of the [[Allegheny County Jail]] complex in 
[[Pittsburgh]]. It was completed in 1888 and features a similar enclosed arched walkway that connects the courthouse and jail, therefore bearing the same name.

==Gallery==
<gallery widths=190 heights=190>
File:Venise - Pont des Soupirs.jpg|Bridge of Sighs from the bridge in front of it
File:View from the Bridge of Sighs (Ponte dei Sospiri), Venice Italy.jpg|The bridge that stands between the Bridge of Sighs and the Grand Canal, as seen from the Bridge of Sighs itself
File:Ponte dei Sospiri during maintenance.jpg|The Bridge of Sighs during maintenance
File:Brooklyn Museum - The Bridge of Sighs - John Singer Sargent.jpg|[[John Singer Sargent]] watercolor
File:0 Venise, le pont des Soupirs franchissant le Rio di Palazzo o Rio della Canonica (2).jpg|The Bridge of Sighs seen from Ponte della Canonica
File:Pont des Soupirs Venise.jpg|Lateral view from Doge's Palace
File:The Bridge of Sighs YORAG-65.jpg|''[[The Bridge of Sighs (painting)|''The Bridge of Sighs]]'' by [[William Etty]], 1835
File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Venice, the Bridge of Sighs - Google Art Project.jpg|''[[Venice, the Bridge of Sighs]]'' by [[J.M.W. Turner]], 1840
</gallery>

Other bridges called the Bridge of Sighs:
<gallery widths=235 heights=235>
Bridge of Sighs (Oxford) geograph-3610290-by-David-Hallam-Jones.jpg|[[Bridge of Sighs, Oxford]], England
Bridge of Sighs, St John's College, Cambridge, UK - Diliff.jpg|[[Bridge of Sighs, Cambridge]], England
</gallery>

==See also==
* {{annotated link|Bridge of Lies}}
* {{annotated link|Room of Tears}}
* [[List of buildings and structures in Venice]]
* [[History of the Doge's Palace in Venice]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last=Whitney | first=Charles S. | year=2003 | title=Bridges of the World: Their Design and Construction 
| place=Mineola, New York | publisher=Dover Publications | isbn=978-0486429953 | edition=Reprint | url=https://archive.org/details/bridgesofworldth0000whit | access-date=12 January 2025}}

==External links==
{{commons and category|Ponte dei Sospiri}}<!--LEAVE THIS HERE TO AVOID CREATING BLANKS-->
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190502003506/http://www.bridgeofsighs.info/ Bridge of Sighs, Venice]
* [https://www.venice.org.il/ Venice Tourisml Guide]
* {{Structurae|id=20002394|title=Bridge of Sighs}}
* {{Cite NSRW|short=x|wstitle=Bridge of Sighs, The}}
* {{Wikivoyage inline|Venice/Castello|Bridge of Sighs}}

{{Sequence
| prev = [[Venetian Arsenal]]
| list = Venice landmarks
| curr = Bridge of Sighs
| next = [[Ca' d'Oro]]
}}
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{{Venice landmarks}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridge Of Sighs}}
[[Category:Bridges completed in the 17th century]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1602]]
[[Category:Transport infrastructure completed in the 1600s]]
[[Category:Bridges in Venice|Sighs]]
[[Category:Covered bridges in Italy|Sighs]]
[[Category:Pedestrian bridges in Italy|Sighs]]
[[Category:Stone bridges in Italy|Sighs]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Venice]]
[[Category:1602 establishments in the Republic of Venice]]
[[Category:1602 establishments in Italy]]