Ponte Vecchio

It is the most important and oldest bridge in the city of Florence and crosses the Arno River.
Initially built of wood in 1080 during the Roman era, it was damaged several times by the Arno River and then rebuilt several times in stone with five arches in 1170, 1222, and 1322. In 1333 a terrible flood destroyed the bridge.
In 1345, twelve years later, the bridge was rebuilt with three arches and a wider carriageway, designed by the architect Neri di Fioravante or the painter Taddeo Gaddi (according to the architect and painter Giorgio Vasari).
Towards the mid-15th century, the municipality of Florence forced the city’s butchers (beccai) and fishmongers to move to the shops under the porticoes of Ponte Vecchio, in order to make the city cleaner and less smelly, and to have their waste thrown into the Arno.

In 1565, at the behest of Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici, the architect Giorgio Vasari built the Vasari Corridor in five months. It connects the Palazzo Vecchio (the seat of the municipality) and the Pitti Palace, passing through the Uffizi Gallery, along the Arno River and the shops on the eastern side of the Ponte Vecchio.
Shortly afterward, in 1593, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando I de’ Medici, had the butchers and fishmongers cleared from the shops on the Ponte Vecchio and relocated the jewelers and goldsmiths.
At the four corners of the bridge, there were watchtowers, of which only two remain: the Mannelli Tower and the Rossi-Cerchi Tower.
At the center of the bridge are two magnificent panoramic terraces overlooking the Arno. On the terrace facing west, there is a half-length portrait of Benvenuto Cellini, a great Florentine goldsmith, sculptor, and writer, sculpted by Raffaello Romanelli in 1901.