Venice's famous Bridge of Sighs is to be restored over the next three years, authorities announced on Wednesday.
Workers have begun assembling scaffolding which should be in place by September, allowing experts to assess the damage to the famed monument and the facades of the buildings it links, the Ducal Palace and the one-time prison of the Doges.
The Bridge of Sighs, or Ponte dei Sospiri in Italian, was so named by Lord Byron because it would have been the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment.
Built between 1600 and 1603, the white marble bridge was designed by Antonio Contino - whose uncle Antonio da Ponte had designed the Rialto Bridge.
A local legend says that lovers will be assured eternal love if they kiss on a gondola at sunset under the bridge.
This legend played a key part in the 1979 film A Little Romance starring Laurence Olivier and Diane Lane.
