I’m going to tell you something about the bridge in Venice that I used to see pretty much each weekend when visiting my grandparents on my mother’s side.The bridge became the path by which the prisoners were transported from the prison to the inquisitor's office. Its name stems from the popular belief of sadness and the sighs of condemned prisoners as they were led through it to the executioner.
In reality, the days of inquisitions and torture were over by the time the bridge was built and only small time crooks were kept in the prison cells.
The prison building is older than the Doge's palace and was at one time used during the inquisition by the Church during the Middle Ages (when people were suspected of being witches or non-believers and tortured).
Indeed, the Bridge of Sighs is a beautiful sight, stretching high above the canal. It is generally known as one of the finest examples of bridge architecture in the world according to Italian Renaissance in style, the 11m (36ft) wide bridge is made of white limestone, construction started in 1600 and it took about 2 years to finish it.
It has been unveiled after a three-year, 2.8 million Euro restoration project which had seen it controversially covered with advertising hoardings while the work took place.
I remember seeing it while walking on another bridge on the same canal while walking to the Calle del Pestrin where my grandparents lived for many years and their apartment was above a fish restaurant cooking delicious food at any time of the day.
No comments:
Post a Comment