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The Vasari Corridor is an elevated enclosed passageway in Florence
Florence

Florence is the Capital city of the Italy Regions of Italy of Tuscany and of the provinces of Italy Province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a population of 364,779 ....
, central Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
, which connects the Palazzo Vecchio
Palazzo Vecchio

The Palazzo Vecchio is the City hall of Florence, Italy. This massive, romanesque architecture, Crenellation fortress-palace is among the most impressive town halls of Tuscany....
 with the Palazzo Pitti
Palazzo Pitti

The Palazzo Pitti , in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the Arno River, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio....
. Beginning on the south side of the Palazzo Vecchio, it then joins the Uffizi Gallery and leaves on its south side, crossing the Lungarno dei Archibusieri and then following the north bank of the River Arno until it crosses the Ponte Vecchio
Ponte Vecchio

The Ponte Vecchio is a Middle Ages bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common....
. At the time of construction the Torre dei Mannelli
Torre dei Mannelli

The Torre dei Mannelli is a small tower on the southeast corner of the Ponte Vecchio bridge in Florence, Italy. It was built to defend the bridge and in 1565, the Mannelli family refused to have it altered or demolished so that the Corridoio Vasariano could be built in a straight line....
 had to be built around using brackets because the owners of the tower refused to alter it.






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The Vasari Corridor is an elevated enclosed passageway in Florence
Florence

Florence is the Capital city of the Italy Regions of Italy of Tuscany and of the provinces of Italy Province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany and has a population of 364,779 ....
, central Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....
, which connects the Palazzo Vecchio
Palazzo Vecchio

The Palazzo Vecchio is the City hall of Florence, Italy. This massive, romanesque architecture, Crenellation fortress-palace is among the most impressive town halls of Tuscany....
 with the Palazzo Pitti
Palazzo Pitti

The Palazzo Pitti , in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the Arno River, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio....
. Beginning on the south side of the Palazzo Vecchio, it then joins the Uffizi Gallery and leaves on its south side, crossing the Lungarno dei Archibusieri and then following the north bank of the River Arno until it crosses the Ponte Vecchio
Ponte Vecchio

The Ponte Vecchio is a Middle Ages bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common....
. At the time of construction the Torre dei Mannelli
Torre dei Mannelli

The Torre dei Mannelli is a small tower on the southeast corner of the Ponte Vecchio bridge in Florence, Italy. It was built to defend the bridge and in 1565, the Mannelli family refused to have it altered or demolished so that the Corridoio Vasariano could be built in a straight line....
 had to be built around using brackets because the owners of the tower refused to alter it. The corridor covers up part of the façade of the chiesa di Santa Felicità. The corridor then snakes its way over rows of houses in the Oltrarno
Oltrarno

The Oltrarno is a quarter of Florence, Italy. The name means beyond the Arno; it is located south of the River Arno. It contains part of the historic center of Florence and many notable sites such as the church Santo Spirito di Firenze, Palazzo Pitti, Belvedere , and Piazzale Michelangelo....
 district, becoming narrower, to finally join the Palazzo Pitti
Palazzo Pitti

The Palazzo Pitti , in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the Arno River, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio....
. Most of it is closed to visitors.

History and overview

The Vasari Corridor was built in 5 months by order of Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici in 1565, to the design of Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari

Giorgio Vasari was an Italy Painting and architect, who is today famous for his biography of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art history writing....
. It was commissioned in connection with the marriage of Cosimo's son, Francesco, with Johanna of Austria
Johanna of Austria

Johanna of Austria , was the youngest daughter of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor and Anna of Bohemia and Hungary. By marriage, she was a Grand Duchess of Tuscany; one of her daughters was the famous Marie de Medici, Queen-consort and second wife of King Henri IV of France....
.
Firenze
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 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. 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.

In the middle of Ponte Vecchio the corridor is characterized by a series of panoramic windows facing the Arno
Arno

Arno may refer to:...
, in direction of the Ponte Santa Trinita
Ponte Santa Trinita

The Ponte Santa Trinit? is a Renaissance bridge in Florence, Italy, spanning the Arno. The Ponte Santa Trinita is the oldest elliptic arch bridge in the world, the three flattened ellipses giving the structure its celebrated elegant appearance....
. These replaced the smaller windows of the original construction in 1939, by order of Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, Order of the Bath Sovereign Military Order of Malta Order of the Tower and Sword was an Italy politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
.

After the Ponte Vecchio the Corridor passes over the loggia
Loggia

Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Italy design, which is often a gallery or corridor generally on the ground level, or sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall....
to 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.

In its Uffizi section the Vasari Corridor is used to exhibit the museum's famous collection of self-portrait
Self-portrait

A self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, or sculpted by the artist. Although self-portraits have been made by artists since the earliest times, it is not until the Early Renaissance in the mid 1400s that artists can be frequently identified depicting themselves as either the main subject, or as importa...
s.

See also

  • Giorgio Vasari
    Giorgio Vasari

    Giorgio Vasari was an Italy Painting and architect, who is today famous for his biography of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art history writing....
  • Cosimo I de' Medici
  • Ponte Vecchio
    Ponte Vecchio

    The Ponte Vecchio is a Middle Ages bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy, noted for still having shops built along it, as was once common....

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