Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Where bullfights were once held by rowdy Austrians, the city now hosts free open-
air films, and concerts and theatre performances in July and September - but
watch this space year-round for kiddie carousels, political rallies and street musi-
cians.
(
www.comune.venezia.it
;
Campo San Polo;
Jul & Aug;
San Silvestro)
Understand
The Grand Canal & its Bridges
Never was a thoroughfare so aptly named as the Grand Canal, reflecting the glories of
Venetian architecture lining its banks. For maximum romance, drift down the Grand
Canal by night, when dock lights turn into frenzied Tintoretto brush strokes in the wa-
ter. Even public transport seems glamorous on the 3.5km
vaporetto
No 1 route, which
follows the Grand Canal past some 50
palazzi,
six churches and scene-stealing back-
drops for four James Bond films.
Ponte Calatrava
Controversial Ponte di Calatrava is an ultramodern fish fin-shaped, glass-and-steel
bridge by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava that cost triple the original €4 million
estimate. The 2008 bridge officially known as Ponte della Costituzione (Constitution
Bridge) is the first to be built over the Grand Canal in 75 years.
Ponte degli Scalzi
The 'bridge of the barefoot' takes its name from the barefoot monks who used to pray
at the nearby church. The stone bridge was designed by Eugenio Miozzi in 1934 to re-
place an iron bridge erected in 1875.
Ponte di Rialto
Construction costs for Antonio da Ponte's Ponte di Rialto spiralled to 250,000 Venetian
ducats - about €19 million today. Legend has it that only a deal with the Devil allowed
da Ponte to finish by 1592, yet this white Istrian stone bridge has remained a diabolic-
ally clever engineering feat - until chunks of bridge pylons dropped into the Grand
