Vasari Corridor

43°46′5.53″N 11°15′14.57″E / 43.7682028°N 11.2540472°E / 43.7682028; 11.2540472

The Vasari Corridor's bridge from the Palazzo Vecchio to Uffizi
Inside view of the Vasari Corridor from the Uffizi Gallery toward Palazzo Pitti

The Vasari Corridor (Italian: Corridoio Vasariano) is an elevated enclosed passageway in Florence, central Italy, connecting the Palazzo Vecchio with the Palazzo Pitti. Beginning on the south side of the Palazzo Vecchio, it joins the Uffizi Gallery and leaves on its south side, crossing the Lungarno dei Archibusieri, then following the north bank of the River Arno until it crosses the river at Ponte Vecchio. At the time of construction, the corridor had to be built around the Torre dei Mannelli, using brackets, because the tower's owners refused to alter it. The corridor conceals part of the façade of the Church of Santa Felicità. It then snakes its way over rows of houses in the Oltrarno district, becoming narrower, to finally join the Palazzo Pitti. The corridor's full length is approximately one kilometre.[1][2]

In 2016, the corridor was closed for safety reasons[3] and was set to re-open for tourists on 27 May 2022, marking the anniversary of the 1993 Via dei Georgofili bombing, after an 11-month renovation.[4] As of early July 2024, the opening had not occurred. Simone Verde, the new Uffizi director, told a press conference: "Everything will open by the end of the year. We will open the first section by late autumn."[5]

  1. ^ "History: Corridoio Vasariano". www.uffizi.it. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  2. ^ "The Vasari Corridor". www.visitflorence.com. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  3. ^ "Florence's 'secret' Vasari corridor to open to the public in 2021". www.thelocal.it. 2019-02-20. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  4. ^ "A fatal Mafia bombing shook Florence in 1993—now the Uffizi is fixing damage to its famous Vasari corridor with memorials of the attack". The Art Newspaper. 2021-05-21. Retrieved 2021-05-24.
  5. ^ "Vasari Corridor to reopen by the end of the year". The Florentine. 8 February 2023. Retrieved 31 July 2024.