The Vasari Corridor reopens to the public on December 21. Closed since 2016, the 750-metre-long overhead walkway has been restored in its entirety.
The restoration plan was presented in February 2019 after 18 months of research. Costing in the region of 10 million euro, including a one million dollar donation made by U.S. entrepreneur Skip Avansino in 2023, the actual work began in 2022 and ended in recent weeks.
Returned to its original bareness, the Vasari Corridor will no longer be lined with portraits, but can be experienced in line with its initial purpose: to provide undisturbed passage to Florence’s ruling Medici family. The “new” Vasari Corridor now has disabled accessibility, emergency exits, low-energy lighting and video surveillance.
How to visit the Vasari Corridor
The Vasari Corridor can be accessed by purchasing a ticket to the Uffizi Gallery, costing 47 euro in total. Reservations are required, starting December 10. The Vasari Corridor can be accessed Tuesday to Sunday, at the booked time, one group at a time, for a maximum of 25 people. No more than five tickets may be purchased at any one time, even for different date/time slots. The Corridor can only be walked from the Uffizi, over the Ponte Vecchio before exiting in the Boboli Gardens.
History of the Vasari Corridor
Designed by Giorgio Vasari to allow the Grand Dukes to move safely from their private residence in Palazzo Pitti to the seat of government in Palazzo Vecchio, this overhead walkway remains unique and was built according to the wishes of Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici in 1565 on the occasion of his son Francesco’s marriage to Joanna of Austria. The walkway was built in just five months. The total route is about 750 metres, starting from the Uffizi up to the exit next to the Buontalenti Grotto in the Boboli Gardens. The corridor runs above the city streets, along and over the Arno, enters buildings, goes around the Torre de’ Mannelli and tops the Church of Santa Felicita, in a succession of unusual panoramic views. Both the Uffizi and the Vasari Corridor were part of a wider project aimed at redeveloping the impoverished area between the Palazzo Vecchio and the Arno. It was inspired by the passageway between the Vatican and Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome, which saved the life of Pope Clement VII, born Giulio de’ Medici, who managed to escape from the army of Charles V during the sack of Rome in 1527, as well as the Bramante passageway, built in 1505, to connect the Vatican Apostolic Palaces with the Casino del Belvedere of Innocent VIII.
