The Ponte dell'Accademia is one of only four bridges to span the Grand Canal in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It crosses near the southern end of the canal, and is named for the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, which from 1807 to 2004 was housed in the Scuola della Carità together with the

Gallerie dell'Accademia The Gallerie dell'Accademia is a museum gallery of pre-19th-century art in Venice, northern Italy. It is housed in the Scuola della Carità on the south bank of the Grand Canal, within the sestiere of Dorsoduro. It was originally the gallery o ...

, which is still there. The bridge links the sestieri of

Dorsoduro Dorsoduro is one of the six sestiere (Venice), sestieri of Venice, in northern Italy. Dorsoduro includes the highest land areas of the city and also Giudecca island and Isola Sacca Fisola. Its name derives from the Italian language, Italian fo ...

and

San Marco San Marco is one of the six sestiere (Venice), sestieri of Venice, lying in the heart of the city as the main place of Venice. San Marco also includes the island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Although the district includes Piazza San Marco, Saint Mar ...

. A bridge on the site was first suggested as early as 1488. The

provveditore The Italian title ''prov ditore'' (plural ''provveditori''; also known in ; ), "he who sees to things" ( overseer), was the style of various (but not all) local district governors in the extensive, mainly maritime empire of the Republic of Venice. ...

Luca Tron proposed in the council to build two bridges across the Grand Canal, one here and the other at Santa Sofia. The members of the council, however, laughed at him, and the motion was not even put to the vote. The original

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

structure, designed by Alfred Neville, opened on 20 November 1854, but was demolished and replaced by a wooden bridge designed by Eugenio Miozzi and opened in 1933, despite widespread hopes for a stone bridge. Lovers have attempted to attach

padlock Padlocks are portable Lock (security device), locks with a shackle that may be passed through an opening (such as a chain, chain link, or hasp staple) to prevent wikt:use, use, theft, vandalism or harm. Naming and etymology The term '':wikt: ...

s (" love locks") to the metal hand rails of the bridge, but Venetian authorities have successfully cracked down on this.

References

External links

Panoramic virtual tour of Ponte dell Accademia & Accademia gallery
*High-resolution 360° Panoramas o
Accademia Bridge , Art Atlas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Accademia, Ponte dell Bridges in Venice

Ponte dell'Accademia The Ponte dell'Accademia is one of only four bridges to span the Grand Canal of Venice, Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. It crosses near the southern end of the canal, and is named for the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, which from 1807 to 2 ...

Arch bridges in Italy Pedestrian bridges in Italy Wooden bridges in Italy Bridges completed in 1985 Grand Canal (Venice)