See the Sprawling Secret Passageway Built for Florences Elite 450 Years AgoThe 2,500-foot-long Vasari Corridor impressed guests of the Medicis and other leaders that followed (including Benito Mussolini). Now, its reopening to the public The passage connects the Uffizi Galleries to theBoboli Gardens. Uffizi GalleriesIn 1565, a simple, elegant hallway was built atopPonte Vecchio (or the Old Bridge) in Florence. The passage was restricted to Florentine elites, who used it to easily traverse the Arno River without mingling with passersby on the bridges lower levels. Now, after years of restoration and repair, the once-secret hall has reopened to the public.The passagewayknown as the Vasari Corridorconnects Florences lushBoboli Gardens to the world-famousUffizi Galleries, an art museum boasting works such as Sandro BotticellisThe Birth of Venus and CaravaggiosMedusa. The passage sits atop Ponte Vecchio, a bridge that spans the Arno River in Florence. Uffizi GalleriesAccording to astatement from the Uffizi Galleries, the 2,500-foot-long Vasari Corridor was commissioned by the second duke of Florence,Cosimo I de Medici of the infamousMedici family, which controlled Tuscany for much of the time between the 15th and 18th centuries. As Alessandro Giuli, the Italian culture minister, says in the statement, the Medicis would walk the Vasari Corridor en route from their home,Palazzo Pitti, to their workplace,Palazzo Vecchio, the government headquarters.The corridor is named for its designer,Giorgio Vasari, a Renaissance artist, architect and writer. Vasari modeled the passage on a similar structure in Rome. Entrants descend 58 steps from the second floor of the Uffizi to a covered brick walkway alongside the rivervisible through porthole windowsbefore continuing across Ponte Vecchio, according to CNNs Julia Buckley.The panoramic aspect has certainly always made the passageway interesting, as art historian Simona Pasquinucci, a curator at the Uffizi Galleries, tells theGuardians Angela Giuffrida. It was interesting for Cosimo to more or less check what was happening in his city from these windows. Back then, the river was much livelier, with all the fisheries, mills and other activities on and around the bridge. The windows in this part of the passage were expanded in the 1930s. Uffizi GalleriesPer the Guardian, the Medicis used the Vasari Passage to impress guestsa practice that would continue through the 20th century. In fact, the large windows that line the passageways bridge section werent actually added until the 1930s: Benito Mussolini had them installed before welcoming Adolf Hitler to Florence in1938.The Vasari Corridor was last restored in the 1990s, per the statement. Officials closed the hallway in 2016 because it didnt meet safety regulations. In 2022, an approximately $10 million restoration project began, which ended in late 2024. The elevated passage runs alongside the river before crossing over. Uffizi GalleriesThe corridor is a parallel city within the city that has remained a mythical place for the Western world, as Uffizi director Simone Verde tells CNN. He adds that the corridors construction illuminates the role of culture in the Medicis rule.This was new to the Renaissancethe cultural element of government, says Verde. The culture created here was the motor for all the courts of modern Europe.Restricted for centuries to aristocrats, officials and eventually study groups, the Vasari Corridors views are now available to ticketed Uffizi visitors for 18 (around $19) in addition to the galleries 25 (about $26) entrance fee. As Giuli says in the statement, Accessibility, safety and energy sustainability define a route that, through its intricate historical, urban and monumental layers, allows visitors to admire Florence in all its splendor.Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.Filed Under: Architecture, Art, Fascism, Florence, Italy, Museums, Political Leaders, Renaissance