A stroll along the enchanting bridges of Venice

Another bridge with a distinctive shape is the Three Arches Bridge, which crosses the Cannaregio Canal about halfway along its length and is characterised by a structure with three arches, two small lateral ones and a large central one.

Remaining the only example of a three-arched Venetian bridge, it has lost its original name of San Giobbe Bridge. Other Venetian bridges of this type certainly existed in the past: for example, in the 15th century, the St. Lawrence Bridge in the Castle sestiere was also three-arched, as documented in Gentile Bellini’s painting Miracle of the Cross Falling in the St. Lawrence Canal exhibited at the Gallery of the Academy.

Also, like all Venetian bridges, it lacked protective parapets and had much longer and lower steps, features that gave it a particular elegance as documented in prints of the period.