It was designed by Santiago Calatrava, and was moved into place in 2007 (connecting Stazione di Santa Lucia to Piazzale Roma), amid protest by politicians and the general public.

The bridge is important both functionally and symbolically, connecting arriving visitors to the city and welcoming them to Venice with a panoramic view of the Grand Canal.

The stairway on the bridge is paved with pietra d'Istria,[1] a stone traditionally used in Venice, alternating with tempered glass steps illuminated from below by fluorescent lights.

There is also no permanent connection between Venice and the well-populated Giudecca island to the south, although a tunnel has been proposed at not much greater cost than a bridge, promising better access for tourists and residents.

[2] In April of 2019, the Italian Court of Auditors ordered Venice to scrap the lift system, on the grounds that it was an expensive failure,[5] being too slow and too hot.

[7] In 2022, safety concerns overcame aesthetic principles when the city determined to replace all the glass sections with trachyte stone, to prevent regularly occurring falls.