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For many years, the only older bridge in the city was the Rubaconte bridge, built nearly a century earlier. But after significant 19th-century modifications and its destruction in 1944, the Ponte Vecchio claimed its title as the oldest bridge in Florence.
Ponte Vecchio, the first segmental arch bridge built in the West, which crosses over the Arno River at Florence and is an outstanding engineering achievement of Europe’s Middle Ages. Its builder, Taddeo Gaddi, completed the bridge in 1345. Learn more about the history of the bridge.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Jun 11, 2021 · The Ponte Vecchio (literally meaning Old Bridge) is one of Florence’s most famous tourist attractions and the oldest bridge in the city. It is known for the collection of jewellery shops which span its length and is now a massive draw for visitors.
- Sarah Roller
- Who built the Ponte Vecchio. In the 16th Century, the first art historian, Giorgio Vasari (responsible for the corridor above the bridge), credited the design of the bridge to the Florentine artist and architect Taddeo Gaddi, a student of Giotto.
- Mystic numbers are important. The involvement of the Dominicans becomes more likely when considering the horizontal proportions used in the plan of the bridge and the blocks of shops built upon it, which can be reduced to 1:2:4, and correspond to the first progression of Platonic numeric theory.
- Ponte Vecchio was a defensive structure. The Ponte Vecchio was designed in part as a defensive structure. In Medieval Italy the use of rivers to launch attacks was a well-established element of the art of war, and although Florence was surrounded by walls, an enemy might attack in boats along the Arno itself.
- Renaissance shop rental. To recoup the money spent on building the bridge, soon after its completion, the government of Florence rented out the 46 shops built on it.
Aug 20, 2024 · The most striking and oldest bridge in Florence Italy still in existence is the Ponte Vecchio, literally: the old bridge. The Ponte Vecchio was designed by a student of Giotto, Taddeo Gaddi and was finished in 1345.
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Apr 7, 2021 · Ponte Vecchio is the most famous bridge in Florence. It earned its name, "Old Bridge," by surviving a long and exciting history. It's possible that the bridge existed in some form during the Roman Empire, but it was first recorded as being a defensive structure in Medieval Italy.
Built very close to the Roman crossing, the Ponte Vecchio, or Old Bridge, was the only bridge across the Arno in Florence until 1218. The current bridge was rebuilt after a flood in 1345. During World War II it was the only bridge across the Arno that the fleeing Germans did not destroy.
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