Description
The Vasari Corridor is an elevated, covered passage that links Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti, passing through the Uffizi and over Ponte Vecchio, in Florence. It was conceived so that the Medici could cross the city without mixing with their subjects.
A duke who does not trust his subjects builds himself a road all his own, above their heads. In 1565 Cosimo I de' Medici had Palazzo Vecchio, the seat of government, joined to his home at Palazzo Pitti.
The project was entrusted to Giorgio Vasari, and the work went incredibly fast: nine months, from March 12 to December 17, 1565, in time for the wedding of his son Francesco to Joanna of Austria. The result is about 760 meters of passage.
The corridor starts from the apartments of Eleonora of Toledo, in Palazzo Vecchio, crosses the Uffizi, runs along the Arno on a portico of arches and passes over the shops of Ponte Vecchio, with big panoramic windows at the center. Then it reaches the Boboli Garden, near Buontalenti's Grotto, and enters Palazzo Pitti.
On the Ponte Vecchio the corridor even changed the landscape: the meat market was moved so as not to disturb the grand duke with bad smells, and in its place came the goldsmiths, still there.
On the corner facing Ponte Vecchio is the ducal coat of arms of Cosimo I, a modern copy. Not everyone bowed. The Mannelli refused to let the corridor pass through their tower, and Vasari had to go around it on a series of corbels, projecting supports.
Farther on, a balcony with a grille looks into Santa Felicita: the grand dukes followed Mass from up there, without going outside.
The corridor was badly damaged by bombs, partly rebuilt and returned to the city in April 1973. In 1944 the retreating Germans blew up all of Florence's bridges except Ponte Vecchio, and for a while the corridor became the only passage between the two banks.
A duke who does not trust his subjects builds himself a road all his own, above their heads. In 1565 Cosimo I de' Medici had Palazzo Vecchio, the seat of government, joined to his home at Palazzo Pitti.
The project was entrusted to Giorgio Vasari, and the work went incredibly fast: nine months, from March 12 to December 17, 1565, in time for the wedding of his son Francesco to Joanna of Austria. The result is about 760 meters of passage.
The corridor starts from the apartments of Eleonora of Toledo, in Palazzo Vecchio, crosses the Uffizi, runs along the Arno on a portico of arches and passes over the shops of Ponte Vecchio, with big panoramic windows at the center. Then it reaches the Boboli Garden, near Buontalenti's Grotto, and enters Palazzo Pitti.
On the Ponte Vecchio the corridor even changed the landscape: the meat market was moved so as not to disturb the grand duke with bad smells, and in its place came the goldsmiths, still there.
On the corner facing Ponte Vecchio is the ducal coat of arms of Cosimo I, a modern copy. Not everyone bowed. The Mannelli refused to let the corridor pass through their tower, and Vasari had to go around it on a series of corbels, projecting supports.
Farther on, a balcony with a grille looks into Santa Felicita: the grand dukes followed Mass from up there, without going outside.
The corridor was badly damaged by bombs, partly rebuilt and returned to the city in April 1973. In 1944 the retreating Germans blew up all of Florence's bridges except Ponte Vecchio, and for a while the corridor became the only passage between the two banks.