Corridoio Vasariano

In 1565, when Francesco I married Joanna of Austria, Grand Duke Cosimo de' Medici commissioned Vasari to link their new digs in the Pitti Palace with the Uffizi and the Palazzo Vecchio in such a manner that the archdukes could make their daily rounds without having to rub elbows with their subjects.

inspired by the Passetto di Borgo, an elevated passage linking Vatican City with Rome’s Castel Saint’Angelo through which Pope Clement VII, a member of the Medici family, escaped during the sack of Rome in 1527.

With a patina of 400 years, Florence wouldn’t look quite right without this covered catwalk, leapfrogging on rounded arches from the back of the Uffizi, over the Ponte Vecchio, daintily skirting a medieval tower, and darting past the façade of Santa Felicità (where the dukes could stop for a quick Hail Mary) to the Pitti Palace.