Ponte Vigo Historical Timeline

Origins

A crossing has existed here for as long as the Vena has, because this is where the canal opens into the lagoon and where the fishing fleet has always come and gone.

Turning points

The wooden bridge was replaced in 1685 with the present stone one, part of a broader campaign of paving and rebuilding in a town that was, under Venice, the Republic's main fishing port.

Influential people

The Istrian stone is the significant detail: the same hard, white, salt-resistant limestone that faces Venice, shipped down the lagoon. Chioggia built its important structures the way the capital did.

Cultural evolution

The lion column at the northern end carries the Republic's emblem, and its diminutive scale produced the nickname el gato -- a piece of local self-deprecation about Chioggia's standing relative to Venice that has outlasted the Republic by two centuries.

Present-day significance

The bridge and the Piazzetta Vigo behind it are where the town meets the lagoon, and where the boat to Venice and to Pellestrina still leaves.