Giorgio Vasari, the notable Italian writer, painter,…

Giorgio Vasari, the notable Italian writer, painter, and architect, builds the long passage, now called Vasari Corridor, that connects the Uffizi with the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the Arno River in Florence.

The enclosed corridor passes alongside the River Arno on an arcade, crosses the Ponte Vecchio and winds around the exterior of several buildings.

Built in five months by order of Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici in 1564, it had been commissioned in connection with the marriage of Cosimo's son, Francesco, with Johanna of Austria.

The idea of an enclosed passageway had been motivated by the Grand Duke's desire to move freely between his residence and the government palace, when, like most monarchs of the period, he feels insecure in public, in his case especially because he has replaced the Republic of Florence.

The meat market of Ponte Vecchio has been moved to avoid its smell reaching into the passage, its place being taken by the goldsmith shops that still occupy the bridge.

At the latter extremity, the corridor is forced to pass around the Mannellis' Tower, after the staunch opposition of that family to its destruction.