Not many bridge commissions got bids from Michelangelo and Andrea Palladio—and ended up being built by someone else. But it was Venice’s own Antonio da Ponte who finally built this most noble passage across the Grand Canal in the late 16th century. Da Ponte’s plan called for shops lining the interior of the bridge, and these miniature emporia offer tourists great shopping to this day. The stone arch bridge rises 24 feet above the Grand Canal.
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