Italy - Florence - Vasari Corridor arcade_sq_DSC8787
This may look like a very nondescript arcade, the kind found all over the world but it's actually the arches supporting the Vasari Corridor on the northern side of the Arno just as it takes a turn inland to enter the Uffizi Museum in Florence. As such it represents the ultimate power of the Medici family over Renaissance Florence.
If you've been to Florence you may be wondering where all the people are that usually throng this route between the Ponte Vecchio and Uffizi. The simple answer is this was taken at dawn. Luckily my hotel was only metres away.......
From Wikipedia : 'The Vasari Corridor was built in 5 months by order of Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici in 1564, to the design of Giorgio Vasari. It was commissioned in connection with the marriage of Cosimo's son, Francesco, with Johanna of Austria. 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.'
Click here to see more of my Florence shots : www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/sets/72157650208172192
My Website : Twtter : Facebook
Italy - Florence - Vasari Corridor arcade_sq_DSC8787
This may look like a very nondescript arcade, the kind found all over the world but it's actually the arches supporting the Vasari Corridor on the northern side of the Arno just as it takes a turn inland to enter the Uffizi Museum in Florence. As such it represents the ultimate power of the Medici family over Renaissance Florence.
If you've been to Florence you may be wondering where all the people are that usually throng this route between the Ponte Vecchio and Uffizi. The simple answer is this was taken at dawn. Luckily my hotel was only metres away.......
From Wikipedia : 'The Vasari Corridor was built in 5 months by order of Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici in 1564, to the design of Giorgio Vasari. It was commissioned in connection with the marriage of Cosimo's son, Francesco, with Johanna of Austria. 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.'
Click here to see more of my Florence shots : www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/sets/72157650208172192
My Website : Twtter : Facebook