The Ponte Vecchio bridge is a symbol of the city of Florence, built in the 14th century over the Arno River. Surviving dozens of floods and miraculously surviving the Second World War, when the retreating German army blew up all the other bridges in the city, Ponte Vecchio attracts tourists like a magnet. Closely built up on both sides with expensive jewelry and souvenir shops, the oldest bridge in Florence is constantly filled with people. The Ponte Vecchio looks especially impressive in the night festive lighting when hundreds of lights and three bridge openings are reflected in the waters of the Arno.
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| Ponte Vecchio Bridge |
History of the Ponte Vecchio
The first bridge at the narrowest point of the Arno River, in the area of the Ford, was built under the Romans, approximately in the 1st century BC. e. Work on the bottom of the river shortly after World War II found a concrete foundation laid at an angle to the banks so that the bridge could withstand the frequent destructive floods. Until 123, the width of the bridge increased to 3 m, because the Cassian road was passed through it, intended for communication between Rome and the northern provinces. Imperfect Roman architectural tricks did not save the bridge: in the VI-VII centuries. it was destroyed by the combined efforts of the elements and the crowds of barbarians who swept through Italy. In the Middle Ages, the restored bridge was swept away by floods at least twice. The penultimate version was built in 1177 on oak beams left over from its predecessor. The stream of 1333, the most violent in the history of the Arno, destroyed it too.
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| Ponte Vecchio Bridge |
In 1345, the city authorities got tired of paying for regular reconstruction, and they ordered the architect to design a stone bridge. Giorgio Vasari, artist and art historian, claims that this master was Taddeo Gaddi, modern researchers doubt this and attribute authorship to Neri di Fioravanti. In any case, the new stone bridge, after some time called Vecchio, that is, "old", quickly became a bustling trading place. For sanitary reasons, inaccessible to our understanding, butcher shops were moved here so that they would not leave waste on the street near the palaces of the nobility, but would dump them into the river. Soon the merchants found the portable tables not enough, and the sides of the bridge were overgrown with buildings mounted above the water on brackets. This did not add beauty to him, but there was no end to the visitors.
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| Ponte Vecchio Bridge |
How to get there
Bridge address: Ponte Vecchio, Lungarno degli Archibusieri, 8/r, 50122, Firenze.
The easiest way to get to Ponte Vecchio is by taxi. You can also get there by public transport: Vola in Bus buses run around the city, and you need to get off at Piazza della Signoria. Near the bridge is also the Ponte Vecchio bus stop, where buses C3 and D go.