Ponte Vecchio Tour
The Ponte Vecchio is a tour of the most popular and most photographed by tourists visiting Florence. The Ponte Vecchio has ancient origins dating back to Roman times, this bridge was subject to various transformations over the centuries up to the present characteristic structure. The Ponte Vecchio as well as hosting the jewelery shops of Florence is also crossed for its entire length from the famous Vasari Corridor. The Vasari Corridor was built by Cosimo I de Medici to have a safe passage between Pallazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti.
The Ponte Vecchio is a unique architectural work that is often identified as the symbol of Florence, its original building dates back to Roman times when it was built of wood and stone so that the bridge was destroyed several times due to floods of Arno river. To avoid such destruction they devised a bespoke solution that would prevent new collapses caused by debris carried downstream by the floods, to solve permanently the problem arches of the Ponte Vecchio were lowered. They allowed the construction of a smaller number of spans only three to allow the best flow of debris, thanks to this solution, the Old Ponte was never destroyed even though over the centuries were required different interventions and maintenance for many centuries. However, being one of the first bridges the river met on his road coming into town and this is more exposed. Thanks to this architectural intervention made by Taddeo Gaddi the bridge took on a very original and characteristic that still fascinates the tourists visiting Florence. At the time of construction of the Ponte Vecchio, the Vasari Corridor suffered another transformation with the construction of the elevated structure where he spent the path separated from the road desired by the powerful Medici family who wanted to have an exclusive passageway that would connect their Palazzo Vecchio with the Boboli garden and Pitti Palace. Another change due to the construction of the Vasari Corridor has been the transformation of the road from the bridge popular area to an elegant and rich neighborwood, it was decided to replace the original activities such as workshops, Goldsmiths, still present on the Ponte Vecchio with their activities, a choice that is best suited to the passage of the Medici family and other important personalities while remaining separated from the street could see from the windows small town life and that could have been disturbed by odors arising from the scraps of meat and other food goods that were hitherto sold on the Ponte Vecchio.
Another characteristic of the Ponte Vecchio is the presence of the Tower of Mannelli which rises at the south end of the bridge, the story goes that this family is decidedly opposed to the destruction of the passage corridor forcing Vasari to design an alternative route.