Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) is a medieval arch bridge over the Arno River, in Florence. The bridge connects the northern bank of the river (Piazza del Duomo, Piazza della Signoria and the Uffizi Gallery) with the southern bank (Palazzo Pitti and the Basilica of Santo Spirito). SHORT HISTORY The first bridge on this site was a wooden one built in the year 966, that was destroyed by a flood in 1117. Reconstructed from stone, the bridge was swept away again in 1333. The current bridge was built in 1335, and was attributed to Taddeo Gaddi by the architect and historian Giorgio Vasari, but its origin is still disputed. Unlike all the other bridges in Florence, Ponte Vecchio was not destroyed by the Germans in the World War II, apparently, because of an order from Hitler himself. ARCHITECTURE Ponte Vecchio is composed of three segmental arches: the main arch has a span of 30 meters and 4.4 meters in height, and the two side arches each span 27 meters and have a height of about 3.5 meters. Starting with the 13th century, various shops were built on the bridge. At first, there were all sorts of shops, from butchers to Read more [...]
All Bridges in Florence
Ponte Santa Trinita
Ponte Santa Trinita is a beautiful bridge in Florence, located on the Arno River, which connects Piazza Santa Trinita to Piazza de’ Frescobaldi. SHORT HISTORY Ponte Santa Trinita was built in wood in 1252, thanks to Filippo Ugoni, Mayor of Florence, at the behest of the noble Frescobaldi family, and took the name of the nearby Basilica of Santa Trinita. In 1259, the bridge collapsed under the weight of the crowd watching a show on the Arno. It was rebuilt in stone, but was destroyed again by the great flood of 1333. The subsequent rebuilding lasted fifty years, and was completed in 1415. In 1557, Ponte Santa Trinita was again deteriorated by a flood, and Cosimo I commissioned Bartolomeo Ammannati to build a new bridge, based on a design by Michelangelo. The construction began in 1567, and the work was completed in 1571. The bridge was destroyed by the retreating Germans on August 4, 1944, at the end of the Second World War. In 1952, the architect Riccardo Gizdulich began to supervise the reconstruction works, together with the engineer Emilio Brizzi. The reconstructed bridge was inaugurated on March 16, 1958. ART AND ARCHITECTURE The bridge is built in Read more [...]