Corridors of Power

It is often said that Florence is the cradle of the renaissance, and the Medici family were amongst the most important of its patrons. A dynasty founded on its revolutionary approach to banking, the family became the effective monarchs of the city state of Firenze. A family of entrepreneurs that ruthlessly fought their way into power and controlled the economy, culture and territorial ambitions of their homeland sounds rather familiar today.

But don’t expect the Trump administration to leave a legacy that advances the visual arts, science and architecture to new heights. The renaissance power brokers were genuinely God fearing, banking and usury were seen as sins, commissioning religious paintings, sculpture and architecture paved the way to heaven. We live in different times.

Much of the fine art of that period is now housed in the Uffizi Gallery which overlooks the River Arno. Uffizi means office, and this building was the powerhouse of the Medici empire. Fifteenth Century Florence was a dangerous place, for example, in 1478 Lorenzo d‘Medici and his brother Giuliano were ambushed in the Duomo by members of the Pazzi family. Giuliano was killed and retribution was fierce and fast.

In the sixteenth century, the Medici aquired the Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the river and this was to become their principal residence. Whilst it is a short walk across the Ponte Vecchio, the journey was not without risk, so a route was needed to enable them to get to work and home again in safety. The Vasari Corridor was quickly constructed to Georgio Vasari’s design in 1565. It crosses the river at high level on the Ponte Vecchio and disappears into the fabric of the city on the Oltrano side of the river, emerging directly into the Palazzo Pitti. The corridor is about 1km long and passes through the Church of Santa Felicita at high level, allowing the family to join mass from on high.

The corridor has been closed for many years after it was damaged by a mafia car bomb in 1993, it only reopened to the public at the end of 2024. Vasari’s original fenestration was characterised by small grilled windows, look-outs rather than views. However they frame moments in the city which we usually look at but do not see. It was in the 1930’s that Mussolini installed the large picture windows on the bridge section that look up and down the river, in time for a visit from his friend Adolf Hitler. Interestingly, this was the only bridge the Germans spared in their retreat from the allied forces at the end of World War II.

There is something fascinating about secret routes through the city, short cuts and back roads that only locals know, and walking the corridor is a unique urban experience that we are now lucky enough to be able to experience again.