Ponte vecchio how long

Various tradesmen used the shops to start with, but in the government let them all to the Guild of Butchers. Shopkeepers began to alter the superstructure too: by the 16 th century the old battlements had gone, windows had appeared, and they started to build upwards and backwards out over the river, supporting the new rooms on wooden props called sporti.

By the 17 th century the bridge had taken on the appearance we see now, but the rather quaint chaos of the shops today is hardly the rational order that the government of Florence had in mind when the bridge was first commissioned!

The addition of the Vasari Corridor also changed the character of bridge considerably, and while the Medici who used it were more concerned about the stench from the meat market below than the view out of the windows, nearly years later Benito Mussolini wanted his guest of honour — Adolf Hitler — to enjoy a good view of Florence from the corridor during his State Visit on the May 9, It may be just as well he did, because when the retreating German forces blew up all the other bridges in to slow down the advancing Allies, they left the Ponte Vecchio intact, instead reducing the buildings at both ends of the bridge to rubble, in order to block the streets.

The bridge might have been spared by the Germans in , but when a catastrophic flood hit the city in November , there were real fears the bridge would collapse. It was repeatedly struck by large debris carried by the raging waters of the Arno and whole tree-trunks pierced right through the shops on the upstream side. The Vasari Corridor is also an art gallery, and a brave group of museum staff, given just a few minutes by the fire brigade, entered the section of corridor over the bridge to save the paintings hung there.

They formed a human chain to get them to safety. Later, one of them recounted how the pressure of the water on the bridge set up vibrations that made the whole structure actually hum like a musical instrument. Forgot your password? Get help. Register your account. Forget Password. Friday, 12 November Italy's news in English. Wanted in Rome. All Images of the day Video of the day. Classifieds categories. Main sections. See top classifieds categories.

See all top Yellow Pages categories. See all news categories. See top What's on categories. Where to live in Rome. Ponte Vecchio is the most famous bridge in Florence. There are five important years that contribute to Ponte Vecchio's longevity and beauty: - Surviving the floods The floods of the Arno River often got the better of Ponte Vecchio before Florence unveils street art 'wound' at Palazzo Strozzi - The Shops on the Bridge Before , the shops were available for rent to shopkeepers of any discipline.

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To allow us to provide a better and more tailored experience please click "OK". Sign Up. Travel Guides. Videos Beyond Hollywood Hungerlust Pioneers of love. Things to Do. One of its characteristics, shops , are there since the beginning and were first populated with butcher shops and tanners but in duke Ferdinand I decided to allow only goldsmiths and jewelers to hold shops on Ponte Vecchio because former tenants produced too much garbage and foul smells.

The present tenants are jewelers, art dealers and souvenir sellers. The back shops retrobotteghe that may be seen from upriver, were added in the seventeenth century. When the Medici moved from Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti, they decided they needed a connecting route from the Uffizi to the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the Arno that would enable them to keep out of contact with the people they ruled.

This was allegedly, according to many locals and tour guides, because of an express order by Hitler.