Ponte dell'Accademia
Venice
The Ponte dell'Accademia links the sestieri of San Marco and Dorsoduro across the Grand Canal. It is the wooden bridge built in 1933 to replace an iron bridge from the 1800s.
The iron bridge
Until 1854 the Rialto Bridge was the only one across the Grand Canal. Under Austrian rule, it was decided to build new ones.
In November 1854 the first bridge opened here, made of iron. It was a long straight beam, with no arch. Over time the iron rusted and the bridge became dangerous.
The wooden bridge
By the 1930s the iron was corroded. While waiting for a stone bridge, Eugenio Miozzi designed a temporary wooden bridge, opened in 1933.
There was even a competition for the stone bridge, but the winning design was never built. So the temporary bridge became permanent. Over the years the structure holding up the bridge has been rebuilt, hidden under the wood.
The Gallerie dell'Accademia
At the foot of the bridge, in Dorsoduro, stand the Gallerie dell'Accademia. The museum has the most important collection of Venetian painting in the world, with works by Titian, Tintoretto and Giorgione. Its rooms fill an old church, its monastery and a Scuola Grande.
