Bridge of Sighs – This much-photographed bridge connects the Doge’s Palace with the prison. Travelers popularized this bridge in the Romantic 19th century.
Supposedly, a condemned man would be led over this bridge on his way to the prison, take one last look at the glory of Venice, and sigh.
Easily the most overrated architectural feature in Venice, the Ponte dei Sospiri, which links the palace with the prisons, was popularized by the famous British libertine Lord Byron (1788-1824), who mentioned it in one of his poems. Condemnded prisoners were said to sigh as they passed through the enclosed bridge and caught their last glimpse of the beauty of the lagoon. Now the sighs are mainly from people trying to dodge the photo-snapping masses as they attempt to cross the neighboring bridges. 🙂