PONTE VECCHIO
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the end
curiosities
3.The bridge might have been spared by the Germans in 1944, but when a catastrophic flood hit the city in November 1966, there were real fears the bridge would collapse. It was repeatedly struck by large debris carried by the raging waters of the Arno and whole tree-trunks pierced right through the shops on the upstream side.
curiosities
2.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. The shops were been built on the bridge, but being of wood, they tended to catch fire, so this time they were built of stone.
1. 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. Following the practice of the previous bridge here, the Ponte Vecchio had four towers (two at each end), and walls with battlements running down both sides, broken only by the observation area in the very centre of the bridge.
WHO MADE IT?
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In the 16th Century, the first art historian, GIORGIO VASARI(responsible form the corridor above the bridge), credited the desing of the bridge to the Florentine artist and architect Taddeo Gaddi, a student of Giotto.
The bridge consists of three segmental arches:
the main arch has a span of 30 meters (98 feets)
the two side arches each span 27 meters (89 feets). The rise of the arches is between 3.5 and 4.4 meters.
MAIN INFORMATION
The ponte vecchio is a medieval stone arch bridge over the Arno River, in Florence, Italy. As you walk through the bridge there are the bests jelewery shops.