Over six centuries of bridge building on the Grand Canal

There are currently four bridges on the Grand Canal of Venice: the most famous is certainly Rialto bridge, the oldest one. Built at the end of XVI century (but a wooden bridge already existed), this stone arch, covered bridge is one of the best known symbols of Venice. Closer to the Saint Mark basin, there is the Academy bridge, built for the first time in the XVIII century and made in wood. The third of the bridges on the Grand Canal is Scalzi bridge (also popularly known as the Railway bridge), just in front of Santa Lucia railway station. Not too far, is the most recent among the bridges on the Grand Canal: the Bridge of Constitution, a controversial work in iron, marble and glass designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and completed in 2008.