Corridoio Vasariano

Explore Florence’s worth from within and without. And what makes better the city than Uffizi and the Vasari Corridor?
The Vasari Corridor is from the heart of the Uffizi Gallery, to the Boboli Garden.
It is significantly divided into two parts. The first with a collection of oils in Caravaggio style, and a second dedicated to portraits of different historical moments.
Particularly impressive is retracing the destruction of the massacre of Gergofili, which saw the death of five people and the destruction of priceless paintings.
Instead you can have stunning views of the Ponte Vecchio with its jewelery and Arno from small round little windows.
An experience not to be missed!

I had been looking forward to the ArtViva Uffizi Gallery and Vasari Corridor tour for a week and was ecstatic that Saturday afternoon had arrived. We got an enthusiastic, knowledgeable guide from Amsterdam named Claus, who was an Art History major. I was particularly stoked about the private tour of the Vasari Corridor because it was highlighted in Dan Brown’s Inferno. It was built in 5 months by Vasari after the Medicis demanded a passageway be built between the Palazzo Pitti and Uffizi. They were so arrogant and upper class that they did not want to walk among the common people. The corridor is host to numerous paintings, including a large collection of the self-​portraits of famous artists. The tunnel goes above the jewelry shops of the Ponte Vecchio and it was a thrill to look down (there are windows placed along the walls of the corridor) on all of the walkers on the bridge below, oblivious to us towering in a secret passageway above them. I was amazed to find that the passageway cuts through the Santa Felicita church (the home of the Medicis). It was a blast seeing the Buontalenti Cave next to the entrance of the corridor, both of which Robert Langdon dealt with. We even had the chance to go inside the cavern after a guard unlocked the gate!

The vasari corridor was built in the 1500’s by the famous and powerful Medici family who once controlled Florence, Italy — this secret passageway was built primarily so that the nobles could escape and move from one palace to another without mixing with the local populace.
The corridor itself stretches from Palazzo Veccho (entrance is from the Uffizi) to Piazza Pitti and passes over the Ponte Vecchio. Its absolutely a once in a lifetime visit and if you love Florence and its history, its a must see. I You have to go by organized tour and I highly recommend the one organzed by the local english paper — The Florentine since they talk about women artists and provide interesting, thoughtful insight on the art and artists themselves which is super interesting in a male-​dominated world of art in Italy.
I really enjoyed peeking out at severl of the windows at local passerbys and vantage points I have never seen in Florence, especially over the ponte vecchio. You cannot take pictures of the artwork but you can take pictures out of the windows and there are some fantastic photo opportunities.
We ended our tour next to the famous grotto where jazz concerts are now being played in piazza pitti gardens. It was the perfect place to end our adventure and to be honest, I would like to go again! Best tour for Florentines and tourists alike!

SECRET FLORENCE. A VISIT TO REMEMBER
Wikipedia says:
«The Vasari Corridor (Italian: Corridoio Vasariano) is an elevated enclosed passageway in Florence, central Italy, which connects the Palazzo Vecchio with the Palazzo Pitti. Beginning on the south side of the Palazzo Vecchio, it then joins the Uffizi Gallery and leaves on its south side, crossing the Lungarno dei Archibusieri and then following the north bank of the River Arno until it crosses the Ponte Vecchio. At the time of construction the Torre dei Mannelli had to be built around using brackets because the owners of the tower refused to alter it. The corridor covers up part of the façade of the chiesa di Santa Felicità. The corridor then snakes its way over rows of houses in the Oltrarno district, becoming narrower, to finally join the Palazzo Pitti. Most of it is closed to visitors. (See 1. below)
History and overview
The Vasari Corridor was built in 5 months by order of Grand Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici in 1565, to the design of Giorgio Vasari. It was commissioned in connection with the marriage of Cosimo’s son, Francesco, with Johanna of Austria.
The idea of an enclosed passageway was 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 felt insecure in public, in his case especially because he had replaced the Republic of Florence. The meat market of Ponte Vecchio was 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 was forced to pass around the Mannelli’s Tower, after the staunch opposition of that family to its destruction.
In the middle of the Ponte Vecchio the corridor is characterized by a series of panoramic windows facing the Arno, in direction of the Ponte Santa Trinita. These replaced the smaller windows of the original construction in 1939, by order of Benito Mussolini.
After the Ponte Vecchio the Corridor passes over the loggiato of the church of Santa Felicita; at that point it had a balcony, protected by a thick railing, looking into the interior of the church, in order to allow the Grand Duke’s family to follow services without mixing with the populace.
In its Uffizi section the Vasari Corridor is used to exhibit the museum’s famous collection of self-​portraits.» (See 2. below).
Thank you, Wikipedia.
This was an experience that will not be forgotten.
1. All of it is in fact closed to the public, except by prior arrangement. It then takes negotiation with the authorities/​companies who conduct tours. They can arrange e.g. a guided tour of the Uffizi (walking immediately into a side entrance) and eventually proceeding into the Vasari Corridor.
It takes a few hours to do full justice to passing through the corridor, but they are not hours that you will forget, believe me.
We had the privilege of such a tour with a charming lady. It really does make a difference to have a skilled personal guide in the Uffizi who can explain the style progressions of the Renaissance and so much more background information that would require considerable research. For example:
Can you see how Leonardo screwed up here? The length of that arm was wrong, so he concealed that by changing the appearance of the wall (trompe d’oeil).” Or «Look at the face in Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’. Then look at the faces in Botticelli’s other works. ;-)»
Having finished this amazing tour, you proceed towards a door where you join the security guard and follow up a flight of stairs into the Vasari (just 4 of you).
Then you continue alongside the river (beneath the long red roof in the photo)
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until you reach the roof level of the Ponte Vecchio, where the corridor turns 90 degrees to the left (or to port, or to whatever Galileo would have said).
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You then slowly cross the bridge in the steps of the Medici from where you can look down upon the seething masses.
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You feel as if you should have dressed for the occasion (white silk stockings, floppy hat, red cloak etc. [plus whatever the Medici used as pocket calculators] ;-).
2. Here it is that you will then find a vast amount of portraits, including self-​portraits by many, many famous artists from all over the world.
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It is virtually too much to take in and as our charming guide said you always notice something new each time. Past (or rather through) the church where the Medici used to worship in private above the peasantry, past various houses and eventually down to where it ‘empties’ into the gardens of the Palazzo