The Ponte degli Scalzi literally, "bridge of the barefoot [monks]", is one of only four bridges in Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, to span the Grand Canal.

The bridge connects the sestieri of Santa Croce

Santa Croce

Santa Croce is one of the six sestieri of Venice, northern Italy.-Geography:It occupies the north west part of the main islands, and can be divided into two areas: the eastern area being largely mediaeval, and the western - including the main port and the Tronchetto - mostly lying on land reclaimed...

 and Cannaregio

Cannaregio

Cannaregio is the northernmost of the six historic sestieri of Venice. It is the second largest sestiere by land area and the largest by population, with 13,169 people as of 2007....

. On the north side, Cannaregio, are the Chiesa degli Scalzi (Church of the Barefoot or Discalced Monks) and the Santa Lucia (Ferrovia) railway station

Venezia Santa Lucia railway station

Venezia Santa Lucia railway station is a terminal station serving the comune of Venice, Italy. It is also the only railway station in the historic city of Venice ....

. The south side, Santa Croce, is close to the bus station Piazzale Roma

Piazzale Roma

Piazzale Roma is a square in Venice, Italy.The square acts as the main bus station for Venice. There are bus links to Venice Marco Polo Airport and Treviso Airport. The square is close to the main Santa Lucia railway station for Venice, linked by the Ponte della Costituzione, a modern footbridge...

.

Designed by Eugenio Miozzi, it was completed in 1934, replacing an Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n iron bridge. It is a stone arch bridge.

Ponte degli Scalzi is located close to the site of construction of the fourth bridge over the Grand Canal, popularly known as Ponte di Calatrava

Ponte di Calatrava

The Ponte della Costituzione is the fourth bridge over the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy. It was designed by Santiago Calatrava, and was moved into place in 2007 , amid protest by politicians and the general public. The bridge was installed in 2008 and opened to the public on the night of September...

although it was formally inaugurated as the Ponte della Costituzione. Construction was delayed in part due to controversy over its modern style, but the basic span was finally in place on August 11, 2007, and the bridge was opened for public use on September 11, 2008. This bridge is closer to the bus station than the Scalzi bridge.