Ponte dei Scalzi

The Ponte dei Scalzi (Venetian for "Ponte degli Scalzi," or "Scalzi Bridge") looks older than it is: The stone bridge was completed in 1934 to replace a 19th Century iron bridge. The latter, built in 1857, was the third bridge across the Grand Canal, after the Ponte di Rialto and the Ponte dell'Accademia.

The Happy Pontist, a British blog about bridges and bridge design, praises the Ponte dei Scalzi for its "simple elegance, especially its slenderness at midspan." (The bridge's thickness at its crown is only 0.8 meter, or about a yard.)

In the aerial view, you can see:

• The Venezia Santa Lucia Railroad Station, which dominates the north side of the Grand Canal. From the terrace in front of the station's main steps, a broad sidewalk leads a few meters past the vaporetto platforms to the bridge.

The lower close-up photo shows:

• The Fondamenta Santa Lucia, a.k.a. the broad stone terrace in front of the station.

• The vaporetto or waterbus platforms, with slips for water taxis alongside.

• The Scalzi Church (immediately next to the station, with a tile roof and white stone façade).

• The Ponte dei Scalzi itself, which leads to the sestiere or district of Santa Croce. (One of our favorite small hotels in Venice, the Hotel Ai Due Fanali, is only three or four minutes from the southern side of the bridge.)