A stone bridge with iron railings and a carved lion of Saint Mark on its arch, a few steps from the church of San Pantalon on the way to Campo Santa Margherita. No published source we could find tells its story: this page says what is known, what is seen, and what is still missing.
At a glance
The Ponte Santa Margherita leaves Campo San Pantalon, the small square in front of the church of the same name, and crosses the canal towards the quarter of Santa Margherita, whose campo is the largest in Dorsoduro. OpenStreetMap records it under this name at the campo; the Ponte San Pantalon, over the same stretch of water, is only a few steps away, and the two are easily confused. It is a single stone arch with wrought-iron railings between stone posts, and in the middle of the arch, on the water side, a carved cartouche with the winged lion of Saint Mark between two scrolled shields.
What this page does not say. We searched the tourism itineraries of the Comune di Venezia for Dorsoduro, the historical notes of Ca’ Foscari on the Santa Margherita buildings and the usual guides: none describes this bridge, its date or its rebuilding. Names that online searches attach to it, such as «Ponte de la Toletta» or «Ponte di Ca’ Foscari», belong to other bridges in the sestiere and are not used here.
Key facts
- Where: Dorsoduro, between Campo San Pantalon and the Santa Margherita quarter
- Structure: a single stone arch with brick lining under the vault, stone steps on both sides, wrought-iron railings with scroll panels between stone posts (as seen in the photographs)
- Decoration: a cartouche on the arch with the winged lion of Saint Mark holding the open book, flanked by two blank shields with scrolled frames
- Date and builder: not documented in any published source found so far
- GPS: 45.4354, 12.3242 · Open in Google Maps (OpenStreetMap)
What is known, and what is believed
The two ends of the bridge are well documented. On the San Pantalon side stands the church whose seventeenth-century ceiling, painted by Fumiani on some 443 square metres of joined canvases, covers the whole nave. On the other side lies the quarter of Santa Margherita: its church, founded according to tradition in 853 and suppressed as a parish in 1810, is today the Auditorium Santa Margherita of Ca’ Foscari University, and its campo is the heart of the sestiere’s daily life.
On the bridge itself we have only what the photographs of Stefano Vigolo, taken in January 2011, show: the stone arch, the iron railings, and the lion carved on the keystone side of the vault. Lions of this kind on Venetian bridges can be of any age from the Republic to the twentieth century; without a document or an inscription, the date of this one, and whether the shields beside it once carried arms, remain open questions.
What you see
From Campo San Pantalon a broad flight of stone steps rises to the bridge, which is wide enough for two flows of people and carries iron railings with scroll panels on both sides. Under the arch the lining is in brick, with stone kerbs at the water. In the middle of the parapet, facing the canal, is the carved group of the photograph below: the lion of Saint Mark with its book, between two cartouches with shell-like scrolls. On the far side the steps come down into a narrow campiello with a souvenir kiosk, among houses with Gothic windows.
Do you know more about this bridge?
If you know when the Ponte Santa Margherita was built or rebuilt, whose arms the two shields carried, or a document, a plaque or a photograph that tells its story, write to Sofia at sofia@culturalheritageonline.com or through the contact page. What arrives with a source goes into this page, with your name as the contributor.
Nearby
- Campo Santa Margherita — the great campo of Dorsoduro on the far side of the bridge
Gallery
Sources
- Venezia Unica (Comune di Venezia), Itinerario Dorsoduro Classica (PDF): the church of San Pantalon and Fumiani’s ceiling of 443 square metres of joined canvases
- Università Ca’ Foscari, Cenni storici, Santa Margherita (PDF): the church founded by tradition in 853, the parish suppressed in 1810, the present Auditorium Santa Margherita
- Stefano Vigolo, photographs of January 2011 and notes to the editorial staff (2026): the identification of the bridge and of the carved lion. Not a published source
- OpenStreetMap, Ponte Santa Margherita, Campo San Pantalon: the name and the coordinates
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