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The Vasari Corridor (Italian: Corridoio Vasariano) is an elevated enclosed passageway in Florence, which connects the Palazzo Vecchio with the Palazzo Pitti. The Vasari Corridor was built in 5 months by order of Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici in 1564, to the design of Giorgio Vasari. It was commissioned in connection with the marriage of Cosimo's son, Francesco, with Johanna of Austria. The idea of an enclosed passageway was motivated by the Grand Duke's desire to move freely between his residence and the government palace, when, like most monarchs of the period, he felt insecure in public, in his case especially because he had replaced the Republic of Florence.

The Vasari Corridor from

Palazzo Vecchio to

Uffizi

The very first part of the Corridor can be seen

while touring the Palazzo Vecchio but a locked door

blocks the passage.

Palazzo Vecchio

The area closest to the Uffizi entrance was heavily damaged by a terrorist attack commissioned by the Italian mafia in 1993. During the night of May 26, 1993 a car full of explosive was set off next to the Torre dei Pulci, located between via Lambertesca and via de' Georgofili, and 5 people died. Many others were injured and several houses were heavily damaged, including this section of the Uffizi Gallery and the Vasari Corridor.

The Uffizi Gallery is one of the oldest and most famous art museums of the Western world.

The Doni Tondo or Doni Madonna, sometimes called The Holy Family, is the only finished panel painting by the mature Michelangelo to survive

Finally, after more than 200 years, the beautiful, imposing statue called the Sleeping Ariadne (Arianna Addormentata) has returned to the Uffizi Gallery.The sculpture, dating from the third century AD, should find its permanent home in the new set-up of Hall 35, dedicated to Michelangelo

Uffizi Gallery

The Vasari Corridor and the Uffizi GalleryIn its Uffizi section the Vasari Corridor is used to exhibit the museum's famous collection of self-portraits 

It is a covered walk, almost a kilometre in length, an overhead passageway that starts out from the West Corridor of the Gallery, heads towards the Arno and then, raised up by huge arches, follows the river as far as the Ponte Vecchio, which it crosses by passing on top of the shops.

Self-portrait of Giorgio Vasari Italian painter and art historian (1511-1574)

Staircase from the Uffizi Gallery to the Corridor Corridor detail

Uffizi Gallery

Ponte Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio

The meat market of Ponte Vecchio was moved to avoid its smell reaching into the passage, its place being taken by the goldsmith shops that still occupy the bridge.

Ponte Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio

In the middle of Ponte Vecchio the corridor is characterized by a series of panoramic windows facing the Arno, in the direction of the Ponte Santa Trinita. These replaced the smaller windows of the original construction in 1939, by order of Benito Mussolini. The larger windows were installed for an official visit to Florence by Adolf Hitler to give him a panoramic view of the river.

Ponte Vecchio

At the latter extremity, the corridor was forced to pass around the Mannelli's Tower, after the staunch opposition of that family to its destruction.

Torre dei Manelli

Torre dei Manelli

This is the only surviving tower of the four once located at the corners of the Old Bridge. It was built in 12th Century by the Mannelli, one of the most ancient families of Florence whose prestige was still so great in 1565 that even Cosimo I de' Medici avoided to destroy their tower during the building of the Vasari Corridor above the Old Bridge and ordered the Corridor to turn around the tower.

After the Ponte Vecchio the Corridor passes over the loggiato of the church of Santa Felicita; at that point it had a balcony, protected by a thick railing, looking into the interior of the church, in order to allow the Grand Duke's family to follow services without mixing with the populace.

View of the church of Santa Felicia from the corridor

On top of the Mannelli tower a brick-made floor has been built in subsequent times.

Torre dei Manelli

Torre dei Manelli

The Vasari Corridor

Ponte Vecchio

Torre dei Manelli

Torre dei Marsili

The skyline of medieval italian cities was characterized by countless raging towers, and Florence made no exception: the most prominent families built towers which not only were used as (rather unconfortable...) homes and strongholds during frequent civil wars. They also embodied the family's power, and had to be built taller than the ones of enemy clans: many towers collapsed during their construction because the owners wanted them to be too tall.In the centre of Florence you can still find several towers (or remnants thereof) which managed to survive civil wars and reprisals, lightning strikes and demolitions following city reshaping or changes in habits (from 14th Century the palace became symbol of a family's power, and towers lost their role), but none of them retained until today its original height

Torre dei Marsili

Torre dei Marsili

Torre dei Marsili

When Florence became a free city in 13th Century and a republic was founded, all towers were cropped to signify that the age of clans and civil wars was over: Florentine historian Giovanni Villani (1280-1348) wrote in his history of Florence Nuova Cronica ("New Chronicle") that in 1251 the city government decided «all towers of Florence - and there were in big number with a height of 70 meters - to be cropped down to 29 meters or even less; the stones from the cropped towers were used to build houses in Oltrarno».

Torre dei Marsili

Many towers existed once in the quarters of Oltrarno: most of them have been not only cropped in 1251, but also further lowered in later times and now have become a part of palaces or other buildings, so that only few of them can still be recognized as towers.

Torre dei Marsili

The Marsili were among the most ancient Florentine families; they built this tower between 11th and 12th Century. In 19th Century the tower was owned by the goldsmith Giuseppe Sorbi, who decorated the façade with four della Robbia-style terracottas (Annunciazione, two Angels and Jesus) which still today characterize this tower.

Torre dei Marsili

Torre dei Marsili

Torre dei Belfredelli

One of the better preserved towers in the city, characterized by the small garden on its side towards Borgo San Jacopo. Belfredelli family erected it in 12th Century and owned other buildings in the surroundings. The uppermost floor of the tower was added well after 14th Century. Behind this tower is the even taller Ramaglianti tower: it seems built on the back of the Belfredelli tower, but between the two buildings is a centimeter-wide air space.

the Corridor start in Palazzo Vecchio and reach Pitti Palace from Boboli Garden

The Palazzo Pitti, in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio. The core of the present palazzo dates from 1458 and was originally the town residence of Luca Pitti, an ambitious Florentine banker.The palace was bought by the Medici family in 1549 and became the chief residence of the ruling families of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. It grew as a great treasure house as later generations amassed paintings, plates, jewelry and luxurious possessions.

Palazzo Pitti

The palace and its contents were donated to the Italian people by King Victor Emmanuel III in 1919, and its doors were opened to the public as one of Florence's largest art galleries. Today, it houses several minor collections in addition to those of the Medici family, and is fully open to the public.

Sound: James Galway - Mercadante - Concerto in E minor - I Allegro maestoso

Text: InternetPictures: Daniela Iacob & InternetCopyright: All the images belong to their authors

Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanuwww.slideshare.net/michaelasanda