OLD BRIDGE ( Ponte Vecchio )

The bridge first appears in a document dated 996. Destroyed by the river Arno when it flooded in 1333, Ponte Vecchio  was rebuilt by Neri di Fioravante ( although according to Vasari, by Taddeo Gaddi ) in 1345. It is flanked by shops on either side which Ferdinand I towards the end of the sixteenth century, granted to the goldsmiths. Butchers initially occupied the shops. Ponte Vecchio has always hosted shops and merchants. The back shops that may be seen from upriver, were added in the seventeenth century. 

During World War II, the Old Bridge was not destroyed by Germans during their retreat of August 4, 1944, unlike all the other bridges in Florence. This was allegedly because of an express order by Hitler. Access to Ponte Vecchio was, however, obstructed by the destruction of buildings at both ends.

On the central terrace is a bronze bust of the Florentine goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini. The bust was inaugurated in 1901 on the occasion of the fourth centenary of his birth.

Above the upstream row of shops is the Corridoio Vasariano ( Vasari Corridor ) which joins Palazzo Vecchio to the Pitti Palace.
The Vasari Corridor was built in five 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 Cosimo's desire to move freely between his residence and the government palace. The meat market of Ponte Vecchio was moved to avoid its smells reaching into the passage, and its place taken by the goldsmith shops.

GIOTTO'S BELL TOWER (CAMPANILE DI GIOTTO )

With it's square plan and height of 84,70 m, it is a magnificent example of Florentine Gothic style.

It was designed by Giotto, who began it in 1334 and directed the works up to the first cornice. On his death Andrea Pisano, leaving aside the original project, added another floor, arriving up to the second cornice. Between 1348 and 1359 Francesco Talenti built the upper floors with the beautiful two and three mullioned windows scrupulously following Giotto's design, with the exception of the spire which he substituted with jutting horizontal crowning.

The harmony and elegance of the architecture's plastic forms are emphasised by the geometric plychrome marble facing which makes the tower so slender and graceful.

The base is decorated by sculptures and by to bas-reliefs with hexagonal plaques depicting  Stories from Genesis, the History of Human Labour, the Planets, the Virtues, the Liberal Arts and the Sacraments, all by famous sculptors of that time : Andrea Pisano, Luca della Robbia, Arnoldo Arnoldi and Donatello. The originals are in the Cathedral Museum.

The upper band with four niches on each side contains copies of the staues of Prophets, Sybils and John the Baptist, also housed in the Cathedral Museum.

BAPTISTRY ( BATTISTERO )

The Baptistry of San Giovanni, one of the most ancient churches in Florence, sits opposite the city's cathedral, the church of Santa Maria del Fiore.

Dante called this Baptistery il "bel San Giovanni". It is one of the most beautiful examples of Romanesque architecture in Tuscany. 

The people of Florence in the Middle Ages believed that the Baptistry was an ancient building dating back to the time of the Romans, a pagan temple converted into a church.

The building we see today is the result of an earlier baptistry, dating back to the 4th or 5th century AD, being rebuilt on a grander scale.

The Baptistry has an octagonal plan with a pyramid roof. The facing of green marble from Prato and white marble from Carrara in geometric design (13th century ) harmonises the exterior with the volumetric architecture of its interior.

Of great interests are the three Bronze Doors. The first ( 1330 ) on the south side, is by Andrea Pisano, a work which marks the beginning of Florentine Gothic sculpture; the second ( 1403-24 ) on the northern side, is again Gothic, by Ghiberti, who was preferred to Brunelleschi who had presented a project that it was already in Renaissance style at a competition held in 1401; the third ( 1425-52 ) , on the eastern side, is again by Ghiberti who had by then learned something of Renaissance style and applied the rules of prespective for the first time.

 The first door illustrates Stories from the life of John the Baptiste and the Cardinal and Theological Virtues; the second illustrates  Stories from the New Testament, the Gospels and Doctors of the Church; the third, also known as " Door of Paradise" is a series of ten panels describing Stories from the Old Testament. The originals are preserved in the Cathedral Museum.

 As you enter the building , your attention is immediately drawn by the precious mosaics in the Dome. The mosaics are dominated by the huge figure of Christ in Judgement, with scenes from the Last Judgement occupying three of the Domes's eight segments. The horizontal registers superimposed in layers tell the stories of St. John the Baptist, of Jesus, of Joseph and of the Creation of the World. The Angelic Hosts occupy the hightest register of all.

L'ALLUVIONE - Riccardo Marasco