Rialto Bridge and surroundings
Designed at first like a floating bridge made of floating boats in 1181, it was substituted in 1250 by a wooden mobile bridge, that could be lifted to let big sailboats to pass along. Its importance for the Venetian trade became more and more important so that a project to substitute it with a more resistant one, made of stone, was instituted and many calls were set up. In the end Antonio da Ponte’s project won in 1588.
For many centuries the Rialto Bridge had been the only one to cross the Grand Canal until 1854, when the Academy Bridge was built.
The Rialto Bridge is characterized by a big archway 8 metres high, supported by others smaller. It is composed of 3 parallel tiers. The two laterals face the Grand Canal, where you can enjoy a beautiful view whereas the central one is flanked by double archways and full of small shops and boutiques.
A few steps far from the bridge, in San Polo’s area, the famous market takes place. It is opened every morning (until noon) in the area called “Erberia”. Several hundred people attend it every day and make it typical, giving the tourist visiting the city for the first time, the sensation of experiencing Venice in the past. Since the beginning the fulcrum of the city’s fruit and vegetable market, every dawn, the zone is invaded by ships carrying their fresh products ready to be sold to the population.
The area includes also the oldest church of Venice, which is known from the fifth century AD, although the present construction seems to date back to XII-XIII Century: the Church of San Giacomo di Rialto (or San Giacometto) , so called to distinguish it from the Church of San Giacomo dell'Orio, in Santa Croce.
