Florence: Ponte Vecchio, romance and history

Hello, my friends! Welcome to My Own Italy to discover Italy with my personal touch!
Our travel today is to Tuscany and we're going to visit one of the most famous bridges in the world: Ponte Vecchio in Florence.
Ponte Vecchio is a very important symbol both from the historical point of view and from the architectural one.

 Built near a crossing of the Roman era, the Ponte Vecchio was until 1218 the only bridge across the Arno River in Florence until 1218. The bridge, as we see it today, was built in 1345 after a violent flood that destroyed the previous one.

 Initially, these were the shops of butchers and fishmongers but by order of Ferdinand I in 1593, they were replaced by goldsmith shops because the smell was felt constantly and the nobles did not enjoy similar scents.

 Above Ponte Vecchio you can see a beautiful part of the Vasari Corridor. This corridor, built in 1565 by Giorgio Vasari, passes just above the shops of goldsmiths that are currently on the sides of the bridge.

 Commissioned by the Medici, it allowed them to move from the Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti without having to go through the streets of Florence in total safety.


On Ponte Vecchio in 1901 a bust of Benvenuto Cellini, a famous glodsmith  of the sixteenth century, was inaugurated on the occasion of the fourth centenary of his birth.

During the Second World War, German troops destroyed all the bridges of Florence, except this one. However they blocked the access to the bridge destroying the two medieval buildings on either side. 

 Visitors who come in Florence can't miss an evening stroll on the Ponte Vecchio. At night, in fact, when the wooden doors of the shops are closedand they look just like coffers, the atmosphere on the bridge becomes even more charming and romantic and it really can't be missed!
 

Leisure with me, this is my tourism!