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floRence’s olDest bridge Ponte vecchio
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One of the first places you will want to visit is the extremely ancient and world famous Ponte Vecchio. Orginally constructed with stone fore-starlings and paved in wood, it was the first bridge to be built in Florence in the time of the Roman Legion and crossed the Arno at its lowest lowest fordable point. It was completely rebuilt in stone in 1177 and paved in brick. Note the plaque on the right, on the Por Santa Maria side of the bridge, recalling its destruction in the disastrous flood of 1333. It was on this occasion that the Roman statue of Mars that decorated the bridge was swept away by the flood waters and was never to be found again. The bridge was reconstructed twelve years later with the addition of the shops (1345) by either Taddeo Gaddi (according to Vasari) or Neri Fioravanti. The design made use of wider arches, rather than the formerly-used round arches, which aided the flow of water, especially when there was a risk of floods and was to set the style for many other bridges in Italy. The new Ponte Vecchio cost 70.000 florins to build and the butcher’s, grocer’s, smith’s and cobbler’s shops on it, 48 in all, had to contribute 600 florins towards the cost. They were replaced by the gold and silversmiths we see today in 1593. Giorgio Vasari built the Vasari Corridor above the bridge for Cosimo I in 1565. It linked the political and administrative “offices” at the Palazzo Vecchio with the royal residence at the Pitti Palace.MORE