Florence - Ponte Vecchio

Florentina was established in Roman times as a settlement for veteran soldiers. The name had changed already when young Charlemagne conquered the town in 774. It became part of the Duchy of Tuscany, with Lucca as the capital. Around 1000 Margrave Hugo chose Florence as residency instead of Lucca. After the death of Matilda of Tuscany (1115), the Florentines formed a republic ruled by a council. The town prospered, despite a constant fight between the different factions and noble families.

In the 15th century, Florence was among the largest and wealthiest cities in Europe. This was when the Medici family entered the political scene. As a dynasty of art-loving, power-hungry bankers, they made Florence the birthplace of the Renaissance.

The river Arno cuts through the old part of the city. One of the bridges, in particular, stands out – the (Old Bridge), whose most striking feature is the multitude of shops built upon its edges, held up by stilts. The first bridge here was constructed already by the Etruscans, the current bridge was rebuilt after the old bridge was destroyed by flooding in the 14th century. Originally, butchers and tanners were the residents of the bridge. The butchers threw their waste into the Arno, the tanners washed their fabrics. In 1565, however, these were replaced by goldsmiths by decree of Cosimo I de Medici. Even today there are numerous jewelers in the small shops on the bridge.

It is the only bridge in the city to have survived WW II intact. It is the first example in the western world of a bridge built using segmental arches, that is, arches less than a semicircle, to reduce both the span-to-rise ratio and the number of pillars to allow lesser encumbrance in the riverbed.