Ponte Vecchio
Coordinates: 43 ° 46 ′ 5 ″ N , 11 ° 15 ′ 11 ″ E
| Ponte Vecchio | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Crossing of | Arno | |
| place | Florence | |
| construction | Segment arch bridge | |
| overall length | 84 m | |
| Longest span | 30 m | |
| start of building | 1335 | |
| completion | 1345 | |
| location | ||
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The Ponte Vecchio (pronunciation: [ˈpɔnteˈvɛkkio], Italian for Old Bridge ) is the oldest bridge over the Arno in the Italian city of Florence . The structure is considered to be one of the oldest segment arch bridges in the world.
history
Already in Etruscan times there was a transition over the Arno, which flows here to the west-north-west. After a flood in 1333 had flooded large parts of the city and destroyed a wooden bridge standing in the same place, the banks of the Arno were first secured by high walls and then, between 1335 and 1345, today's stone bridge was built over a ten-year period. Its builder is unknown. The bridge is often attributed to the painter Taddeo Gaddi , others call it Neri di Fioravanti. The 84 m long and 32 m wide bridge has three segment arches with spans of 27 + 30 + 27 m. Along the side of the bridge there have been a row of small shops since 1345 with an entrance facing the bridge, the rear part of which overlooks a balcony similar to the actual bridge. Only in the middle of the length of the bridge does the passer-by have a view of the Arno: through three arches upstream to the east and downstream thanks to an open space - with a portrait statue of Benvenuto Cellini - also downstream.
On behalf of Cosimo I de 'Medici , Giorgio Vasari built a passage above the row of shops in 1565, part of the so-called Vasari Corridor , which connects the Palazzo Vecchio with the Palazzo Pitti .
Originally there were mainly butchers and tanners on the bridge. The butchers threw their stinking rubbish into the Arno, the tanners washed their fabrics, which had previously been tanned with horse urine. In 1565, however, these were replaced by goldsmiths by decree of Cosimos I de 'Medici , as they do not produce any waste. There are still numerous jewelers in the small shops on the bridge today.
When the German troops withdrew from Florence during World War II , the Ponte Vecchio was the only bridge in the city that was not destroyed, but only blocked with the remains of the surrounding destroyed buildings. Allegedly Hitler gave the order to leave the bridge intact; The German consul Gerhard Wolf is also credited with preventing the demolition.
During a flood in November 1966, large parts of the old town were flooded, even the bridge's carriageway was flooded and the row of shops was badly damaged. The bridge itself, its abutments, pillars and arches withstood the water masses.
Ponte Vecchio as a motif of art
Movie
In the neo-realistic episode film Paisà (1946) by Roberto Rossellini , the bridge reflects the front section of the civil war between Mussolini's black brigades and the communist-led partisan units: members of the same families faced each other on both sides of the Arno.
A film scene from Hannibal takes place near the Ponte Vecchio, on the banks of the Arno.
music
In O mio babbino caro (“O my beloved father”, 1918), a well-known aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi by the Italian composer Giacomo Puccini , Lauretta threatens to throw herself off the Ponte Vecchio out of lovesickness, since her family and that of her lover each other to be hostile to.
On the bridge
Ponte Vecchio at night
Apartment on the bridge
literature
- Flanigan, Theresa: The Ponte Vecchio and the Art of Urban Planning in Late Medieval Florence , Gesta 47 (2008): 1-15.
- Dora Liscia Bemporad (Ed.): Un ponte dalle botteghe d'oro. Le botteghe degli orafi sul Ponte Vecchio. Quattro secoli di storia. Montemayor, Florence 1993.
Web links
- Ponte Vecchio. In: Structurae
- Ponte Vecchio on Bernd Nebel's website
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated August 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
