Ponte di Calatrava

Modern Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava’s 2008 bridge over the Grand Canal between Santo Croce and Cannaregio has been called many things: a fish tail, a glass-and-steel fantasy, unnecessary, overdue, pleasingly streamlined and displeasingly wheelchair inaccessible. Its detractors point out that its costs surpassed triple the original 2001 estimate, and engineers are still working to correct a 4cm tolerance to ensure its stability. Even among its supporters, there is disagreement. Some claim the bridge is best seen at night, when it looks from afar like a meteoric streak of light across the Grand Canal; and others prefer it by day, when you can appreciate the red ribbed steel underbelly. Judge for yourself whether the time and money paid off, and you can join the ongoing debates on the bridge’s relative merits at happy hours across Venice.