Florence’s mysterious Vasari Corridor may soon open to the public
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Connecting Florence’s famous Uffizi gallery to the Palazzo Vecchio and the Pitti Palace, the famous Vasari Corridor, which currently has restricted access, may soon be opened to the public.
The Vasari Corridor can currently only be accessed with private tour companies, where prices for tickets start from €45 per person. Eike Schmidt, director of the gallery, however, plans to get rid of this “privileged” access, enabling the corridor to become more accessible to the general public. He said: “My aim is to offer the possibility, not the obligation, of passing through the Vasari Corridor to the Pitti Palace on a separate ticket from the one giving access to the Uffizi, and which is in line with normal prices for museum access.”
Built in 1564 by Giorgio Vasari, the entrance to the corridor is located behind an unmarked door on the first floor of the Uffizi Gallery. The corridor is famous for being home to over a thousand paintings, including a collection of self-portraits created by Cardinal Leopoldo de’Medici, as well as offering excellent views out from the passageway over the River Arno.
The Vasari Corridor also connects the Uffizi Gallery to two other significant landmarks in Florence, the Pitti Palace and the Palazzo Vecchio. The former home of the grand dukes of Tuscany as well as the King of Italy, today the Pitti Palace is home to a number of notable paintings and sculptures, while the Palazzo Vecchio is Florence’s historic town hall.
If you’re looking to soak up the culture during your stay at our holiday villas in Italy, the Vasari Corridor may just be another attraction you need to add to your list.
Image: Toni Rodrigo, available under Creative Commons