Its first building dates back to Roman settlements. It was certainly recorded as destroyed by the Arno's flood in 1333, the most disastrous one in memory. It was later re-built keeping what is still, more or less, the current structure: two towers forming three arches; with a line of "botteghe" on each side of the bridge. These were maintained, by order of Ferdinando I the end of the 1500's, solely for gold craftsmen.

A historical peculiarity: Ponte Vecchio is among the few connection bridges for the two sides of the Arbno which, during the World wars, were not bombed.

A bridge for common people, but also the passage Cosimo I de'Medici ordered to connect "aereally" the Uffizi and Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti, through the Corridoio Vasariano (the name derives from name of the architect built it, in 1565, Giorgio Vasari). The corridor allowed the de'Medici family to move from the political and administrative centre to their private residence without descending onto the streets. The passage, a true masterpiece, winds along about a kilometre from the Uffizi Gallery, along the Lungarno Archibusieri to then pass through above the Ponte Vecchio botteghe, on the left side, and reach the residence over the Arno.

The Ponte Vecchio today dominates the Arno with its small botteghe, almost all gold craftsmen's shops, as decided by Ferdinando I, looking onto the road with a single shopwindow, keeping still the massive wooden blinds. In the central point of the bridge, the line of shops is interrupted by a little square, which offers a view North and South of the bridge.

Municipality of Florence (In Italian)
Uffizi Gallery- Vasariano Corridor