Florence’s secret Vasari Corridor opens to the public after €11 million restoration

Florence's Vasari Corridor, a 750-meter-long elevated passageway that connects the Uffizi Galleries to the Pitti Palace, officially reopened on Saturday (21 December) after a monumental eight-year restoration project costing €11 million.

For the first time ever, the public is now able to walk through the secretive corridor that once served as a private route for Florence’s ruling Medici family and Europe’s elite. 

Commissioned by Cosimo I de’ Medici in 1565, the Vasari Corridor was designed to serve multiple purposes. Not only did it allow the Medici to travel in privacy between their government offices at the Uffizi and their residence at the Pitti Palace, but it also shielded them from the crowds below and any potential threats.

The corridor’s design is as much about secrecy as it is about grandeur: with 73 small windows lining the route, it provided breathtaking views of Florence and allowed the Medici to keep a watchful eye on the city without stepping out into the public sphere. 

Over the centuries, the corridor became a space reserved only for the privileged. Throughout history, it has been walked by artists, politicians, and even dictators. In 1938, Italian fascist leader Benito Mussolini took Adolf Hitler on a private tour of the corridor.

For most of the 20th century, the passageway remained closed to the public, and was only opened for select study groups or private tours, before closing entirely in 2016 due to safety concerns.

Now, thanks to a combination of state funding and private donations – including $1 million (€960,000) from US businessman Skip Avansino – the Vasari Corridor has been restored to its former glory and is open to all visitors. Access is available for an additional €18 on top of the €25 entry fee to the Uffizi Galleries, giving visitors a chance to walk in the footsteps of history while enjoying the corridor’s stunning architectural features. 

“It was a corridor of continuous passage between the Pitti Palace and the Uffizi for essentially five centuries. But the idea is not just to open the corridor, which in itself has an importance, but also to show to the public the connection between the various souls of this monumental complex and its collections,” Simone Verde, the director of the Uffizi Galleries, told The Guardian. 

The new arrangement includes strict crowd control measures, with only 25 visitors allowed in the corridor every 15 minutes. Due to its elevated position above the Arno River, the corridor cannot meet fire safety regulations requiring exits every 30 metres. To address this, five new exits have been added. 

As visitors follow the route, they will cross the famous Ponte Vecchio and pass by the former private balcony used by the Medici family to attend mass at the Church of Santa Felicita below – without ever mingling with the congregation. 

The Vasari Corridor has survived wars, bombings, and terrorist attacks over the centuries. In 1944, when German forces destroyed several of Florence's bridges, the Ponte Vecchio was the only one spared.

More recently, in 1993, the corridor was damaged in a bombing orchestrated by the Sicilian mafia, an attack that killed five people and injured many more.

Yet, despite these trials, the corridor has stood as a testament to Florence’s resilience and its ongoing role in European history. 

Additional sources • Uffizi Galleries, Guardian