Vasari Corridor in Florence
The Vasari Corridor
The Corridor was built for Grand Duke Cosimo I in 1565 to connect the Uffizi Palace and the Pitti Palace. The architect of the court, Giorgio Vasari, designed this extraordinary ‘aerial’ itinerary: exiting the Uffizi, it passes on the 14th century shops of the Ponte Vecchio, it crosses the via de’ Bardi, overlooks the church of Santa Felicita and enters the Boboli Gardens.
For the Medici the Corridor was a safe indoor path, far from the crowded streets, used every time they had to go on foot from one palace to the other. Today the Corridor is a section of the Uffizi Gallery, normally not open to the public: it displays Seicento and Settecento paintings and the largest collection on the world of self portraits, started in 1664 by Cardinal Leopoldo de’ Medici.
How to visit the Vasari Corridor in Florence
Address: Piazzale degli Uffizi - Firenze
Opening day: the Vasari Corridor can be visited only organizing a special, exclusive tour accompanied by a professional guide and a museum assistant. A special request to open the Corridor has to be addressed to the museum direction. Italy Travels offers the possibility to visit the Corridor joining a group guided tour or organizing a private escorted tour.
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The Vasari Corridor in Florence- Vasari's masterpiece
The Vasari Corridor in Florence - structure description
The Vasari Corridor connects the Palazzo Vecchio to Palzzo Pitti and was built in 1565 in just five months for the marriage of Cosimo's son, Francesco I to Joan of Austria. The long corridor crosses the river over the Ponte Vecchio and ends in the Boboli Gardens next to the Grotta del Buontalenti. Almost a kilometre long, the corridor offers unique views of the city and precious collections of art with a total of about eight hundred paintings. In the first part of the corridor are works from the 17th and the 18th centuries, while over the Ponte Vecchio visitors can admire the largest collection of self-portraits by Italian, Dutch, german and Flemish artists.
The Vasari Corridor tour
Looking for a truly unique experience in Florence? The Vasari Corridor is one of the hidden treasures of the city also because access to the Corridor is difficult to obtain. Feel like the Grand Duke on this walk, from his private display of artworks on the top-floor of the Uffizi, along the corridor built by Vasari, crossing the Arno River along an aerial hidden passage over the Ponte Vecchio, you can reach the Pitti Palace and the Boboli gardens. Find out why the Corridor was built and what its purpose was.
