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.