Corridoio Vasariano, Florence

Corridoio Vasariano is an elevated enclosed passageway linking Palazzo Vecchio with Palazzo Pitti, and its route passes through the Uffizi and across Ponte Vecchio. The structure dates from the sixteenth century and was designed by Giorgio Vasari for Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici, so the duke could travel between residence and government palace without moving through the streets. Its full course measures about one kilometre, threading along the Arno before reaching the palace complex beyond the river.

At Ponte Vecchio, the passage opens onto panoramic windows with views toward Ponte Santa Trinita. The route also bends around Torre dei Mannelli, held out from demolition by its owners and therefore skirted through stone brackets. It passes above the loggia of Santa Felicità, where the duke’s family once had a balcony from which they could follow services apart from the congregation.

Look for the passage’s plain, functional Renaissance architecture: a long, practical link transformed into a private route through the city. In the seventeenth century, Cardinal Leopoldo de’ Medici turned it into a gallery of artists’ self-portraits, including works by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Sofonisba Anguissola.