Constructed in 1858 under the Habsburg rule, Ponte degli Scalzi is one of the four bridges that span the Grand Canal. The name is thought to have derived from the order of bare-footed friars, known as Scalzi, whose monastery was the nearby Chiesa di Santa Maria di Nazareth (commonly called Chiesa degli Scalzi).

It was designed by the English engineer Alfred Neville and was the first Venetian bridge built using cast iron. However, it received a lot of criticism for not fitting with Venetian design aesthetic, leading to its stone reconstruction in 1934 headed by architect Eugenio Miozzi.