Ponte Votivo di San Michele 2025: Venice’s Bridge of Memory
A temporary bridge, centuries of remembrance, and the quiet poetry of sustainable Venice
Every autumn, when mists settle over the lagoon and bells echo across the water, Venice builds a bridge of remembrance. It rises not from stone but from floating platforms — linking the city’s living heart to its island of the dead. It is the Ponte Votivo di San Michele, and in 2025 it returns from 30 October to 9 November, a walkway of light and memory spanning the lagoon for All Souls’ Day.
🏛️ A Tradition Born of Faith and Water
Long before motorboats and vaporetto lines, Venetians reached the cemetery of San Michele by boat or by a floating bridge. That wooden bridge first appeared in the 19th century and was rebuilt every autumn until the 1950s, when modern transport made it obsolete. But for a city whose faith is tied to ritual and water, tradition never dies — it simply rests, waiting to resurface.
In recent years Venice has revived the bridge as a gesture of sustainability and heritage. Each autumn, hundreds of modular floating segments — the same used for the famous Redentore and Madonna della Salute bridges — are assembled between Fondamente Nove and the monumental gate of the San Michele cemetery island. It stretches more than 400 meters long and 15 meters wide, a pathway of pilgrimage suspended on water.
The bridge reminds Venetians that even in a modern world, connection — between past and present, between life and memory — is still made one step at a time.
🕯️ Dates and Access for 2025
For 2025, the Ponte Votivo will open to the public from Thursday 30 October to Sunday 9 November 2025, coinciding with the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (Commemorazione dei Defunti).
- Thursday 30 October: 11:00–16:00 – reserved for Venice residents and holders of the Venezia Unica card
- Friday 31 October – Sunday 2 November: 08:00–16:00 – reserved for residents and Venezia Unica cardholders
- Monday 3 – Sunday 9 November: 08:00–15:30 – open to all visitors
During these days, the bridge offers a unique opportunity to walk directly from the city to the cemetery island — a journey that Venetians traditionally made to honor their loved ones, carrying flowers and candles across the lagoon.
🌿 Venice Sostenibile — A Bridge of Respect
This project is part of the city’s commitment to Venezia Sostenibile — a wider plan for responsible and eco-conscious tourism. The bridge is constructed from reusable floating modules and assembled entirely without permanent impact on the lagoon. Once the celebrations end, the structure is disassembled and stored for the next year’s events — a recycling ritual in itself.
Even the communal walk embodies sustainability: thousands choosing to walk rather than take motorboats, reducing lagoon traffic and emissions. It’s a reminder that Venice’s most sacred acts — faith, memory, gratitude — can also be acts of care for the environment.
🚤 How to Reach San Michele and Special Transport Services
During the period of the bridge, the city transport company AVM/Actv introduces extra vaporetto services and free connections to facilitate movement to and from the cemetery:
- Line DE (F.te Nove ↔ Cimitero) – boats every 20 minutes from 09:05 to 17:05
- Line DE (Piazzale Roma ↔ Cimitero) – departures from P.le Roma 09:09–16:49 every 20 minutes
- Line DE (Lido S.M.E. ↔ Cimitero) – hourly departures between 10:10 and 16:10
- Line 13 stops directly at Cimitero from Friday 31 October to Sunday 2 November 2025 with extended hours (09:25–17:25 from F.te Nove)
All connections are free on the main days of commemoration, allowing both residents and visitors to reach San Michele without environmental cost or crowding.
🕊️ The Island of San Michele — Venice’s Silent City
San Michele is no ordinary cemetery. Founded in 1807 under Napoleon’s rule to move burials outside the city center, it has since become a place of extraordinary peace and beauty. Its cypress-lined avenues shelter graves of artists and poets like Igor Stravinsky, Joseph Brodsky, Ezra Pound, and Sergei Diaghilev — souls who chose to rest within Venice’s embrace.
Each November, the island fills with flowers and quiet footsteps. Venetians carry chrysanthemums and candles, visiting their ancestors and greeting neighbors in soft voices. It’s a moment of reflection in a city so often associated with life and light.
To walk there across the temporary bridge is to participate in one of Venice’s most intimate rituals — a shared act of remembering those who came before.
🧭 How to Experience It as a Visitor
If you’re in Venice between 30 October and 9 November 2025, don’t miss the chance to cross the Ponte Votivo. Arrive in the morning when the light is soft, and carry a small bouquet — flowers can be bought near F.te Nove. Walk slowly; watch how Venetians move with reverence and calm. The bridge is open to all from 3 November, but remember to keep a respectful silence while on the island.
After your visit, wander through the nearby streets of Cannaregio, perhaps joining our Explore Venice Off the Beaten Path Tour to discover artisan workshops and hidden chapels that still echo with the city’s spiritual heartbeat.
For those interested in Venice’s cycle of faith and festivals, read Venetian Festivals and Rituals Through the Year — from the Festa della Salute to the summer Redentore bridge, each is a reflection of how the city builds meaning from water.
🎟️ Practical Tips & Sustainable Etiquette
- Plan your visit on weekdays to avoid crowds (1–2 November are the busiest days).
- Wear comfortable shoes — the bridge surface can be slightly uneven.
- Photography is welcome but be discreet inside the cemetery grounds.
- Dispose of flowers and candles in designated bins to preserve the island’s ecosystem.
- Use public transport or walk — no private boats are allowed near the temporary structure.
Visiting Venice in early November also means fewer crowds at major landmarks — the perfect moment to book Skip-the-Line Tickets for St Mark’s Basilica and see the city in its quietest, most introspective season.
🌙 The Bridge at Dusk
As the sun sets over the lagoon, the Ponte Votivo glows with reflected light. The cypress trees of San Michele stand dark against a rose-colored sky. People walk in silence, some carrying flowers, others simply pausing mid-bridge to watch the water move beneath their feet. It’s a scene that captures Venice’s soul — the meeting of life and loss, earth and water, time and tide.
For ten days each year, the city remembers its past not with monuments, but with a bridge that floats — a bridge built of faith, sustainability, and love.
