Private Walking Tour from the Jewish Ghetto to St. Mark's Square

The Bridge of Sighs is one of the most famous and photographed symbols of Venice. Located a few steps away from Piazza San Marco, the bridge connects the Doge's Palace to the Prigioni Nuove. Known today as the bridge of love, it was originally the bridge that prisoners crossed before being locked up in the Venetian prisons and from which, sighing, they could see the sunlight for the last time. According to a popular legend, the name Bridge of Sighs was first used by the English poet Lord Byron. It was built in the early 1600s, by the architect Antonio Contin, when Doge Marino Grimani ordered it be built to connect the prison with the Court halls. The Bridge of Sighs is made entirely of white Istrian stone in perfect Baroque style and at its center it is possible to admire the coat of arms of the family of Doge Grimani. Entirely enclosed, it consists of two narrow and separated corridors designed as best as possible to prevent any possible prisoner escape.

The Campanile di San Marco, 98.6 metres high, is composed of a square brick shaft 12 metres on each side and 53.75 metres high, above which are set the bell chamber and the spire, crowned by a statue of the Archangel Gabriel. The history of St. Mark’s Campanile begins in 888, when Doge Pietro Tribuno ordered the construction of a watchtower to defend the city’s political center. This first tower, likely inadequate for its purpose, was demolished in 910, and a larger tower was built in its place, serving both as a beacon for mariners and as a bell tower for the city.