Photo: Jorge Franganillo · CC BY 2.0 · editedPonte dei Sospiri
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Dimitris Kamaras from Athens, Greece · CC BY 2.0 · edited
Why go
- Two walled-off passageways kept prisoners from seeing or speaking to one another during transfers.
- Baroque architecture in white Istrian stone.
Opening hours
Today08:30 – 19:00Show all
Don't miss
- Grimani’s coat of armsThe doge’s arms sit above an allegorical figure of justice.At the center of the bridge.
- Eleven carved headsFind the central lion’s head among ten carved masks along the lower arch molding.Along the lower arch molding.
- Flower-patterned windowsEach side has two windows with pierced stonework shaped like eight-petalled flowers.On the bridge’s exterior.
- Flattened arch and curled rooflineThe single flattened arch sits below a curved roofline decorated with volutes.The bridge’s exterior.
Know before you go
- Open daily, 08:30–19:00.
Tips for your visit
- For an exterior view, use Ponte della Paglia, south of the bridge, or Ponte de la Canonica.
- Visitors can cross the bridge during a visit to the Doge’s Palace.
Interesting facts3
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The bridge is eleven metres wide.
Bridge of Sighs - Wikipedia -
Its two façades are almost identical and symmetrical.
Seufzerbrücke - Wikipedia -
Reliefs of reclining figures occupy the spaces above either side of the arch.
Seufzerbrücke - Wikipedia
Shorts
History
The bridge inspired music and painting.
- 1600–1603Built on Doge Marino Grimani’s orders and designed by Antonio Contin, nephew and pupil of Antonio da Ponte.
- Late 18th centuryThe Italian name Ponte dei Sospiri was recorded by this time.
- 19th centuryThe Romantic interpretation imagined prisoners sighing at a last glimpse of the outside world. Lord Byron rendered the Italian name in English as “Bridge of Sighs”.
- 1840William Turner depicted the bridge in an oil painting exhibited at the Royal Academy and now held at Tate Britain.
- 1861Jacques Offenbach titled an opera Le pont des soupirs after the bridge.
Sources: Bridge of Sighs - Wikipedia · Venice/Castello - Wikivoyage (see) · Palazzo Ducale Venezia - MUVE | Sito Ufficiale · Palazzo Ducale Venezia - MUVE | Sito Ufficiale · Doge's Palace Venice - Official Website · Ponte dei Sospiri - Wikipedia · Seufzerbrücke - Wikipedia · Pont des Soupirs - Wikipedia · MUVE Education - Famiglie - Palazzo Ducale · MUVE Education Scuole - Palazzo Ducale · checked 6 Oct 2026
- Website
- palazzoducale.visitmuve.it/
- Phone
- +39 848 082 000
Questions and answers
Is the name Ponte dei Sospiri about lovers’ sighs?
No. It refers to the tradition of prisoners sighing as they crossed. The lovers’ interpretation is a later misconception.
What is the kissing legend at Ponte dei Sospiri?
A later legend promises lasting love to couples who kiss in a gondola beneath the bridge at sunset as San Marco’s bells ring. A version appears in the 1979 film A Little Romance.
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