The Ponte Vecchio ★★★

Florence's "Old Bridge" is a medieval span lined by tiny goldsmith shops

Ponte Vecchio ★★★
Connects Via Por Santa Maria on the north side of the Arno with Via Guicciardini on the south side.

Ponte Veccho tours

Sights nearby
★★★ Uffizi [museum]
★★★ Piazza della Signoria [square]
★★ Palazzo Vecchio [palace/museum]
Mercato Nuovo [market]
★ Museo della Scienza [museum]
★★ Pitti Palace [museums/gardens]

Where to eat nearby
Gelateria Carrozze [gelato]
Le Volpi e l'Uva [snack]
★★★ I Fratellini [snack]
★ I Cche C'é C'é [meal]
★ La Casalinga [meal]
★ Le Mossacce [meal]
★ Acqua Al 2 [meal]

Hotels nearby
Hotel degli Orafi [moderate/premier]
Hotel Hermitage [moderate]
Hotel Continentale [premier]
Hotel Lungarno [premier/splurge]
Gallery Hotel Art [premier]
Old Bridge B&B [super-cheap/cheap]
Relais Uffizi [moderate]
» More hotels near the Ponte Vecchio

ReidsItaly.com Florence Map

» View ENLARGED MAP with all listings

Florence tours

The Ponte Vecchio.The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge) links the north and south banks of the Arno River at its narrowest point.

The bridge has long been a landmark symbol of the city, overhanging with little shops the way most European bridges were in the Middle Ages (though precious few have survived).

The Ponte Vecchio was destroyed and rebuilt many times before the construction of the 1345 bridge you see today, designed by Taddeo Gaddi, and has been lined with these same goldsmith's shops for centuries.

Many of the exclusive gold and jewelry stores are owned by descendents of the 41 artisans set up on the bridge in the 16th century by Cosimo I de' Medici. Cosimo had Giorgio Vasari build him an elevated corridor so he could hurry between his downtown offices ("uffizi" in local dialect; now a world-class museum) and the new Medici residence in the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the river without mixing with the crowds. This corridor still crosses the Ponte Vecchio atop the shop roofs on the eastern side (part of the Uffizi, it is still occasionally opened the public » more).

Not long after his corridor was complete, however, Cosimo found something else to complain about: the stench rising to his private skywalk from the butchers and skin tanners beneath, whose workshops had traditionally lined the bridge. Cosimo summarily booted out the butchers, moved in the classier goldsmiths—and, naturally, raised the rent.

Lorenzo Laura
You'll often see hundreds upon hundreds of padlocks (especially of the brass, key-operated kind) attached to the old horse-hitching rings and railings at the two river-viewing terrace. This habit (filched from a Russian tradition, and now spreading across Western Europe) is the Florentine equivalent of carving the initials of you your beloved into a tree.

Many of the locks are scrawled with the names of the lovers in indelible marker or nail polish. The idea is that you lock your love to the ancient bridge, then throw the key into the river so your love will stay strong forever.

Every so often, an anonymous city worker (clearly chosen for his callousness and Grinch-sized heart) comes along with bolt cutters to remove the long daisy chains of love-locks—and the city has begun imposing a €50 fine on anyone found locking anything to the bridge.

However, it is never long before they begin sprouting again, for love springs eternal in the Renaissance city.

Love locks on the Ponte Vecchio

Many people don't even realize they're actually on a bridge until they get to the center, where suddenly the phalanx of shops on either side is interrupted by two small terraces, one on each side, for gazing up or down the river.

One has a bust of famed Renaissance silversmith and autobiographer Andrea del Verrocchio. Both are often festooned with padlocks (see the box on the right).

How the Ponte Vecchio survived the Nazis

Florentines tirelessly recount the story of how in 1944 Hitler's retreating troops destroyed all the bridges crossing the Arno—all since reconstructed, often with the original material fished out of the river, or at least according to the archival designs and with stone extracted from the same ancient quarries—with the exception of the Ponte Vecchio.

Supposedly, the Nazi in charge of the retreat was overtaken by a momentary fit of whimsy, felt that the Ponte Vecchio was simply too beautiful to blow up, and countermanded his orders. (Disobeying orders is not something any officer does lightly, especially not a Nazi.)

Instead, the fleeing German troops bombed both bridgeheads—and the surrounding buildings—to block the way across and slow the Allied advance.

This is why most of the buildings on either end of the bridge in the otherwise thoroughly medieval areas of Via Por Santa Maria and Via Guicciardini have a distinct, 1950s look.

Tips

Planning your day: This is a bridge, and you use it to cross a river. It takes only a minute or two to cross. Yes, it is a particularly pretty bridge (and you'll want to find a spot to admire it and its overhanging shops from the riverbank), but it's not like it will take up loads of your time. Maybe you'll lean on the railing at one of the midway viewpoints for five minutes, gazing up or down the Arno, and that's about it.
Don't buy anything. Seriously. It's all overpriced, living off busloads of Japanese tourists (whose guides really should advise them to shop elsewhere).
Book a tour: If you prefer a guided tour of Florence, including the Ponte Vecchio, book one via our partners:

The Corridorio Vasariano - Across the Ponte Vecchio without touching the ground
Top 10 shopping experiences in Florence
More sights in the Historic Center
More sights in the Oltrarno

Search ReidsItaly.com

This material was last updated April 2013. All information was accurate at the time.

about | contact | faq

» THE REIDSITALY.COM DIFFERENCE «

Copyright © 2008–2012 by Reid Bramblett. Author: Reid Bramblett

Google

The Ponte Vecchio ★★★

Florence's "Old Bridge" is a medieval span lined by tiny goldsmith shops

How the Ponte Vecchio survived the Nazis

Tips

Related pages