Ponte Vecchio in Florence

Ponte Vecchio in Florence

The most beautiful bridge in Florence and one of the most photographed in the world, was not always a chic place. Although today is the goldsmiths' workshops to attract caravans of tourists, until 1565 were the shops of greengrocers and butchers to dominate the bridge. When it was built the Vasari Corridor overlooking the Ponte Vecchio, the butchers and greengrocers were driven out in favor of goldsmiths and artisans, crafts deemed best suited to the beauty of the place.
Since then gold has become the star of the Old Bridge, as we remember the statue of Benvenuto Cellini, the greatest Florentine goldsmith. In 1565 Giorgio Vasari built for Cosimo De Medici the Vasari Corridor to unite Palazzo Vecchio with Pitti Palace (then private residence of the Medici). The corridor, about one kilometer long, the Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi Gallery, passing, then over the shops of Ponte Vecchio and then go up to the Pitti Palace. It seems that Hitler has given orders to save the Ponte Vecchio during the bombings of World War II. Sometimes the beauty illuminates even the tyrants.