The Vasari Corridor is one the most renowned secret passages in the world: since the late Renaissance it connects the Uffizi Gallery to the Pitti Palace. It was closed to the public in November 2016 and it will be reopened to the public in 2021.
While we’re waiting for the great reopening of the Vasari Corridor here we listed some curiosities and facts of this hidden passage of Florence!
1565 when the Grand Duke Cosimo I commissioned the corridor in connection with the marriage of his son Francesco with Johanna d’Austria;
5 the months needed by architect Giorgio Vasari to build the Vasari Corrdor, that took its name;
1.000 are the meters of lenght of this enclosed passageway connecting Palazzo Vecchio to Pitti Palace;
700 were the portrairts of artists collected in the Vasari Corridor, making it one of the larget collections in the world;
3 are the segmental arches that are the basement of the Ponte Vecchio, whose innovative construction inspired the contruction of the Rialto Bridge in Venice;
1593 when the Grand Dukes banned butchers’ shops from Ponte Vecchio allowing only goldsmiths and jewelries ;
4 are the monuments and buildings crossed by the enclosed passageway: Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi Gallery, Ponte Vecchio, Santa Felicita Church and the Grotto of Buontalenti in the Boboli Gardens;
1 is the tower left from the contruction: Torre dei Mannelli because the Mannelli family didn’t leave the house and Vasari had to built the corridor around the tower;
Vist the Vasari Corridor
The Varasi Corridor is now closed to the public. The great reopening is going to be in 2021; recently the initial part of the Vasari Corridor, generally closed to the public, has been reopened. You may take a tour to the Prince Passage from Palazzo Vecchio to the Uffizi Gallery upon reservation.
If you’re planning a visit to the Vasari Corridor in 2021 request your free ebook of the Vasari Corridor!