13 December 2012

Torcello / Ponte del Diavolo


One of the beautiful things to see on this tiny island of Torcello is the Ponte del Diavolo or Devil's Bridge which is located on the walkway into "town," the only walkway on the island which leads to Locanda Cipriani and the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. I risked life and limb to cross it on an icy morning for a view from the other side.

One website tells me that the arch-shaped bridge is one of the oldest and one of very few that maintains a characteristic of old Venetian bridges: no parapets. (I can't attest to the reliability of the site, and I didn't ask anyone on the island.)

Here's that view from the other side:


Soon after I took this a black cat wandered into the frame, and that is exactly when I fled the scene. Often these bridges are great sources of devil legends; I was taking no chances being alone with a black cat near a devil's bridge early in the morning on a nearly-deserted island in the dead of winter. Would you?


3 comments:

  1. scared of black cats? you've lived too long in this country! :)
    it's a very nice bridge, and I didn't know that no parapets are a characteristic of old Venetian bridges (after all, Roman bridges have parapets), but I like the most is the color of that water, which to me is The characteristic of anything Venetian.

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    1. Hmmmm....now I'll have to look further into this, obviously.
      The water, even out on this island, retained the color. Amazing. Now I'm curious about this, too.

      I once watched a news / doc show about the building of the Venetian, a grand gambling hotel complex in Vegas that hightlighted how much time went into getting the color of the water just right. I've never seen it, but it was quite a production according to this show.

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    2. Here's another source besides the one I linked to ... http://www.visit-venice-italy.com/bridge-venice-italy.htm
      It seems reliable. I think.

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