"The Ponte dei Sospiri was given its English name by part-time Venice resident Lord Byron, who wrote in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage : "I stood in Venice on a Bridge of Sighs, a palace and a prison on each hand." Byron's travelogue nails it: When you stand on the famous crossing, the Doge's Palace and a public prison are on either side. A local myth (that turned into the plot line for the film A Little Romance ) says that lovers who kiss on a gondola at sunset beneath the Bridge of Sighs will be granted eternal love. Access to the bridge itself is through the Secret Itinerary tour of the Doge's Palace."
The Best Things to Do in Venice
Photo by Peter Probst / age fotostock
