Ponte dell'Accademia
Encyclopedia
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
Grand Canal of Venice
The Grand Canal is a canal in Venice, Italy. It forms one of the major water-traffic corridors in the city...
. It crosses near the southern end of the canal, and is named for the Accademia
Accademia
The Accademia is a museum gallery of pre-19th century art in Venice, northern Italy. Situated on the south bank of the Grand Canal, within the sestiere of Dorsoduro, it gives its name to one of the three bridges across the canal, the Ponte dell'Accademia, and to the boat landing station for the...
galleries. The bridge links the sestiere
Sestiere
A sestiere is a subdivision of certain Italian towns and cities. The word is from sesto, or sixth; and is thus used only for towns divided into six districts. The best-known example are the sestieri of Venice, but Ascoli Piceno, Genoa, Milan and Rapallo, for example, were also divided into sestieri...
of Dorsoduro
Dorsoduro
Dorsoduro is one of the six sestieri of Venice, northern Italy.Dorsoduro includes the highest land areas of the city and also Giudecca island and Isola Sacca Fisola...
and San Marco
San Marco
San Marco is one of the six sestieri of Venice, lying in the heart of the city. San Marco also includes the island of San Giorgio Maggiore...
.
First suggested as early as 1488, a bridge was not constructed until 1854. The original steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
structure, designed by Alfred Neville, was demolished and replaced by a wooden bridge designed by Eugenio Miozzi and opened in 1933, despite widespread hopes for a stone bridge.
The second bridge, in a dangerous condition, was razed and replaced by the present bridge, of identical construction, in 1985. As of 2011, a replacement bridge is under discussion.
Lovers attach padlock
Padlock
Padlocks are portable locks used to protect against theft, vandalism, sabotage, unauthorized use, and harm. They are designed to protect against some degree of forced and surreptitious entry.- History :...
s ("love locks") to the metal hand rails of the bridge, but the Venice authorities have attempted to crack down on this.