Stepping across a controversy in Venice
There are hundreds of bridges in the city, but none quite like the Calatrava Bridge
This past June, I returned to Venice, Italy for five days to visit my daughter who was serving an internship at the U.S. Pavilion in the 2019 Art Biennale. While there, my goal was to experience three sights I had missed during my first visit to Venice in 2017: 1) The Basilica of St. John and St. Paul (known in Italian as the Basilica dei Santi Giovanni y Paolo); 2) The Venetian Ghetto (where Jews were segregated starting in 1516 and curiously, the origin of the word “ghetto”); and 3) The Constitution Bridge (known in Italian as the Ponte della Costituzione, but also known as the Calatrava Bridge).
On the last full day of my visit in June, my daughter and I took a vaporetto to Cannaregio, the sestiere of Venice where the Jewish Ghetto and the Ponte della Costituzione are located.
I had first learned of the famous — or infamous, take your pick — bridge, when I read The Politics of Washing: Real Life in Venice. This book, written by Venetian transplant Polly Coles, reveals the daily routines of ordinary Venetians who have…
