The Vasari Corridor in Florence is an enclosed, elevated passageway that connects the Palazzo Vecchio with the Palazzo Pitti. It is part of the Uffizi galleries. Currently, it is closed for significant restoration and renovation works, but its reopening is expected shortly. Let’s discover together what the Vasari Corridor is and its history in Florence.
The Vasari Corridor in Florence: History
The Vasari Corridor is an elevated pathway in the historic center of Florence, the capital of the Tuscany region. It connects two of the city’s main historical palaces: the Palazzo Vecchio and the Palazzo Pitti, crossing through the Uffizi and over the Ponte Vecchio. As a result, the Vasari Corridor features a route that passes through several significant points of interest in Florence’s historic center.
Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici ordered the renowned architect Giorgio Vasari to build the Vasari Corridor in just 5 months in 1565. The project aimed to create a private path for the members of the Medici family. The purpose of this passage was to link their residence with the government palaces. This was necessary to allow Duke Cosimo I and his family to move safely, as the population’s support for his new government was still unstable.
Changes for Florence
The construction of the Vasari Corridor took place in a very short time.. The construction started on March 12, 1565, and concluded on December 17 of the same year. Naturally, this brought changes to the city. To prevent the Grand Duke from smelling bad odors as he passed, the meat and fish market at Ponte Vecchio underwent relocation. The Grand Duke replaced the fish and meat market with goldsmith shops, whose presence continues to define the bridge today.
The execution of the project did not present particular difficulties for Vasari, except for making the Vasari Corridor pass through the Mannelli Tower, located at one end of the Ponte Vecchio. This was due to the stubborn opposition of the family who owned the tower. Vasari solved the problem by making the corridor go around the tower using a system of brackets that supported it.
Modifications over the centuries
Over the centuries, the Vasari Corridor in Florence has undergone some modifications. For example, the loggia on the Lungarno degli Archibusieri was originally open, as it appears today. However, the installation of a series of shops in 1572 transformed it. These shops expanded to cover the protrusions over the river, much like the shops on the Ponte Vecchio.
During the official visit of Adolf Hitler to Florence in 1938, Benito Mussolini had panoramic windows made in the center of the Ponte Vecchio. The Führer and the Nazi hierarchs appreciated the bridge so much that they spared it from destruction by aerial bombings. But the rest of the corridor suffered numerous damages during World War II. Florence restored and, in some places, completely rebuilt the Vasari Corridor. Only in April 1973 could the city once again enjoy its Medici monument in its entirety.
Vasari Corridor Opening
Since its opening as a cultural and tourist attraction, the Vasari Corridor has hosted the collection of self-portraits collected in the seventeenth century by Leopoldo de’Medici. The Uffizi added important paintings from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to this collection. Since 2016, safety concerns, reorganization, and environment adaptation have led to the closure of the Vasari Corridor to the public.
The opening date of the Vasari Corridor is not yet known. In an interview in July 2024, director Simone Verde announced: “By the end of the summer, the companies at work will deliver the last part of the Vasari Corridor. We will then finish installing the Corridor, which will open to the public in 2024”.
What was the purpose of the Vasari Corridor?
The Vasari Corridor was established for security purposes. In fact, the purpose of the elevated route was to enable the Grand Dukes of the Medici family to move freely and safely from their home to the government buildings, where they exercised their power.
It was a preferred route, as we would say today, to commute to work. In fact, the population of Florence represented the greatest danger. His support and loyalty to Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici, as well as to the new system of government that had abolished the ancient Florentine Republic, appeared uncertain. For these reasons, construction work on the corridor lasted only five months.
Vasari Corridor Length
The Vasari Corridor is 1050 yards long.
Vasari Corridor Map
Vasari Corridor Route
The Vasari Corridor is an elevated pathway that starts inside the Palazzo Vecchio. In particular, the Vasari Corridor originates in the apartments of Eleonora di Toledo, near the Bronzino chapel, on the second floor of the Palazzo Vecchio. The Vasari Corridor forms an arch above Via della Ninna. It passes over the roof of the former church of San Pier Scheraggio to enter the top floor of the Uffizi gallery. The corridor continues inside the Uffizi, the most famous of the museums in Florence.
Then it crosses the river Arno on the Ponte Vecchio. It enters the palaces, encircles the Mannelli Tower, and overlooks the Church of Santa Felicita. It arrives in the Boboli Gardens, next to the Buontalenti Grotto, and ends inside the Palazzo Pitti. There is nothing like it in any city in the world.
From the Uffizi to the Boboli
Arriving near the west corridor, a staircase descends to the level of the overpass on the Lungarno degli Archibusieri. It then runs along the Arno through a portico of arches supported by masonry pillars. The Vasari Corridor in Florence continues across the Arno River, passing over the shops on the Ponte Vecchio. Then the Corridor avoids the Mannelli tower with a lateral passage on brackets and crosses via de’ Bardi with an arch.
It runs along the loggia of the facade of Santa Felicita. Here, a railing protects the balcony, allowing the Medici to continue inside the church and attend mass without interacting with the public. The corridor continues via Guicciardini, passing behind the palaces and along the Guicciardini garden. Finally, the corridor arrives in the Boboli Gardens near the Buontalenti Grotto and enters the Palazzo Pitti at the current Rondo of Bacchus.
Vasari Corridor Tickets
Vasari Corridor tickets are not available until reopening. The Vasari Corridor will reopen to the public on a regular basis, completely reorganized, with a special ticket. The route will also be accessible to disabled people thanks to the presence of ramps, platforms, and elevators.
The “New” Corridor
The works include the construction of new low-energy consumption air conditioning, heating, and LED lighting systems. Visitors will only be able to travel along the Vasari Corridor in one direction. We will start from the Uffizi and exit from Palazzo Pitti. Visiting shifts will admit a maximum of 125 people at a time.
The ancien self-portraits will house in a new room in the Uffizi Gallery. The project also comprises the reopening of all 72 windows in the corridor. According to the latest news, there will be no paintings due to the express prohibition on placing flammable material. Instead, you can admire the extraordinary collection of ancient Greek and Roman marble epigraphs in the Uffizi. Until today, they were in the museum’s storage.
The nearly three hundred marble inscriptions constitute the main nucleus of the grand ducal epigraphic collection, mostly gathered between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The route also includes Hellenistic and Roman sculptures, just as happened on the occasion of the opening of the Vasari Corridor in 1565.
The interior will also feature frescoes from the sixteenth century, which have been preserved in the deposits since the nineteenth century. They originally adorned the exterior of the passage over the Boboli garden.
The Memorials
Additionally, there will be two memorials. The first memorial will be located in Via dei Georgofili, commemorating the location where the bomb that caused the massacre in 1993 exploded. The other memorial will remember the devastation of the historic center of Florence by the Nazis during World War II.
Vasari Corridor Price
Vasari Corridor’s price is unknown until it reopens. The cost of the ticket for the extraordinary opening in 2021 amounted to 45 euros. In various interviews given in 2021 by Eike Schmidt, former director of the Uffizi Galleries, it reads: “The full ticket price to visit the Vasari Corridor will be 45 euros, which is not even half of what some agencies were asking before.” Eike Schmidt reiterated, “There will also be free days and special free visits for the public.” Therefore, considering the recent general price increase, we should probably expect a ticket cost for the Vasari Corridor to be around 45 euros, if not more.
Vasari Corridor of Florence Images
Vasari Corridor starts at Palazzo Vecchio, in the apartments of the Eleonora quarter.
It crosses via Della Ninna and enters the Uffizi.
It traverses the Uffizi through the upper gallery.
The path through the Uffizi stops at the stairway on the west side.
The Lungarno degli Archibusieri features a portico with arches
The Vasari Corridor runs along the Lungarno degli Archibusieri before entering the Ponte Vecchio.
The Vasari Corridor continues on Ponte Vecchio, passing over the goldsmith shops.
It goes around the Mannelli tower with the system on brackets.
The Vasari Corridor crosses over via de’ Bardi, forming an arch.
It enters the tower of the Obriachi.
Arrives in Piazza Santa Felicita.
It passes inside the Church of Santa Felicita.
The Vasari Corridor enters with a balcony into the church. Closable grates protect the balcony.
After crossing behind the noble palaces of Via Guicciardini, the Vasari Corridor arrives at the Boboli Gardens and passes to the left of the Buontalenti Grotto.
Finally, it arrives at Palazzo Pitti.
Vasari Corridor in Florence Gallery
Video Vasari Corridor
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Tourist information offices in Florence
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