5 photos of Venice, Italy

Venice's Ponte de Sospiri, or "Bridge of Sighs,"
Antonio Contino's bridge over the Rio di Palazzo was erected in the year 1600 to connect the Doge's prisons, or Prigioni, with the inquisitor's rooms in the main palace.

The name "Bridge of Sighs" was invented in the 19th Century, when Lord Byron helped to popularise the belief that the bridge's name was inspired by the sighs of condemned prisoners as they were led through it to the executioner.

In reality, the days of inquisitions and summary executions were over by the time the bridge was built, and the cells under the palace roof were occupied mostly by small-time criminals.