Bridge of Sighs is a beautiful bridge in Venice, Italy. It crosses the canal between the Doges’ Palace and the state prison. The structure is called the Bridge of Sighs because of the unhappy prisoners who had to cross it long ago. These prisoners were taken from the prison to the palace for trial through a passageway on the bridge. If the prisoners were found guilty, they were sent to execution through another passageway of the bridge.
Italian architect Antonio Contino designed the bridge. It was completed about 1600. Lord Byron referred to it in his poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage.
A covered passageway between the Tombs prison and the former criminal courts building in New York City was also called the “Bridge of Sighs.” It was built so that prisoners could be taken to the courtrooms without having to face pedestrians.
