Discover Ponte Vigo

The bridge is a single segmental arch in white Istrian stone, with a stepped ramp on each side and a solid balustrade.

The form is Venetian and functional: the arch is high enough to let boats pass beneath and the steps are shallow enough for people carrying loads, which is what a working fishing town needed.

Istrian stone was chosen for the reason it always was in the lagoon -- it is dense, nearly non-porous, and resists salt water and frost far better than local brick.

At the north end stands a column carrying a small winged lion, the emblem of Venice, on a modest pedestal. Its scale relative to the great lions of Venice is the whole point of the local nickname.

Behind it opens Piazzetta Vigo, the small square where the canal meets the lagoon and the boats moor.