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.

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.

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.)

[Source: Wikipedia]

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