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Hidden corners

The First Crooked Bridge

The Ponte Storto seen from the rio di San Boldo: the arch crosses the canal diagonally, with the landings offset on the two banks
The Ponte Storto seen from the rio di San Boldo: the arch crosses the canal diagonally, with the landings offset on the two banks Photo: Abxbay, Wikimedia Commons, pubblico dominio

A bridge usually crosses a canal by the shortest route: straight across. This one does not. Its arch cuts diagonally across the rio (a Venetian canal) di San Boldo, starting from one bank and reaching the other several metres further along. The railings run one way, the canal flows another, and anyone crossing makes a little zig-zag over the water.

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