Ponte di Rialto

San Polo & Santa Croce


A superb feat of engineering, Antonio da Ponte’s 1592 Istrian stone span took three years and 250,000 gold ducats to construct. Adorned with stone reliefs depicting St Mark and St Theodore on the north side and the Annunciation on the other, the bridge crosses the Grand Canal at its narrowest point, connecting the neighbourhoods of San Polo and San Marco.

Interestingly, it was da Ponte's own nephew, Antonio Contino, who designed the city's other famous bridge, the Ponte dei Sospiri.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby San Polo & Santa Croce attractions

1. Chiesa di San Giacomo di Rialto

0.04 MILES

Steps away from the Rialto Bridge, the most distinctive feature of 12th-century St James' Church is the 15th-century clock set into the facade facing the…

2. Chiesa di San Bartolomeo

0.04 MILES

German traders only had to walk a block from the trading floor of the Fondaco dei Tedeschi to pray for an upswing in the market for their goods. Through…

3. Il Gobbo

0.06 MILES

Rubbed for luck for centuries, this 1541 statue is now protected by an iron railing. Il Gobbo (The Hunchback) served as a podium for official…

4. Chiesa di San Giovanni Elemosinario

0.08 MILES

Hunkering modestly behind T-shirt kiosks is this soaring brick church, built by Scarpagnino after a disastrous fire in 1514 destroyed much of the Rialto…

5. Chiesa di San Salvador

0.1 MILES

A dream made real, San Salvador was conceived in the 7th century when Jesus appeared to a sleeping Bishop Magnus and pointed out on a lagoon map the exact…

6. Fabbriche Nuove

0.1 MILES

Flanking the Grand Canal, this porticoed complex was designed by Jacopo Sansovino in the mid-16th century.

7. Chiesa di San Lio

0.13 MILES

Giandomenico Tiepolo sure knew how to light up a room. Duck into the atmospheric gloom of San Lio's baroque interior and, as your eyes adjust, look up at…

8. Rialto Market

0.14 MILES

Venice’s main market has been whetting appetites for seven centuries, with fruit and vegetable stands abutting the rather more pungent Pescaria. To see it…