Bridge of Sighs
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- This article is about the bridge in Venice. For other meanings see Bridge of Sighs (disambiguation).
Image:Venice bridge of sighs.jpg
The Bridge of Sighs or Ponte dei Sospiri is one of many bridges in Venice. It passes over the Rio di Palazzo and connects the old prisons to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace.
The bridge was built in the 16th century and only given the name Bridge of Sighs in the 19th century, by Lord Byron.
Image:View from the Bridge of Sighs.jpg The bridge is of white limestone. Windows with stone bars are on the summit of this enclosed bridge. The name comes from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice out the window before being taken down to their cells.
Image:Venezia Ponte dei Sospiri.jpg
The name, "Bridge of Sighs" was later applied to the bridge connecting the Allegheny County Courthouse proper to the jail building. Both were designed by American arctitect H.H. Richardson in 1884. (The Bridge of Sighs is also a reference to a bridge in Oxford.)
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es:Puente de los Suspiros fr:Pont des Soupirs it:Ponte dei sospiri no:Sukkenes bro pl:Most Westchnień fi:Huokausten silta sv:Suckarnas bro