Ponte Vecchio over Arno River, a photo from Florence, Tuscany

Photographer's Note

The most famous bridge in Florence, Italy, is Ponte Vecchio (Italian for Old Bridge), which is a Medieval bridge over the Arno River, noted for having shops built along it. Butchers initially occupied the shops; the present tenants are jewelers, art dealers and souvenir sellers. It has been described as Europe's oldest wholly-stone, closed-spandrels segmental arch bridge.

Believed to have been first built in Roman times, it was originally made of wood. After being destroyed by a flood in 1333 it was rebuilt in 1345, this time in stone. Most of the design is attributed to Taddeo Gaddi. The bridge consists of three segmental arches, the main arch has a span of 30 meters (98 feet) the two side arches each span 27 meters (88 feet). The rise of the arches is between 3.5 and 4.4 meters (11½ to 14½ feet), and the span-to-rise ratio 5:1.

It has always hosted shops and merchants (legend says this was originally due to a tax exemption), which displayed their goods on tables after authorization of the Bargello (a sort of a lord mayor, a magistrate and a police authority).

It is said that the economic concept of bankruptcy originated here: when a merchant could not pay his debts, the table on which he sold his wares (the "banco") was physically broken ("rotto") by soldiers, and this practice was called "bancorotto" (broken table; possibly it can come from "banca rotta" which means "broken bank"). Not having a table anymore, the merchant was not able to sell anything.

In order to connect the Palazzo Vecchio (Florence's town hall) with the Palazzo Pitti, in 1565 Cosimo I de Medici had Giorgio Vasari build the famous Vasari Corridor above it. To enforce the prestige of the bridge, in 1593 he prohibited butchers from selling there; their place was immediately taken by gold merchants. The corporative association of butchers had monopolised the shops on the bridge since 1442.

kibele66, philsim, syd1946, ifanik, portmanndominic, salvator, saylan-cb, kdialyna, Hellas, batalay, danos, thiv56 ha puntuado esta nota como útil.

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kibele66 (3087) 2007-12-08 12:57

Hello Michael,
One of the most interesting bridges I`ve ever seen. Rather than a bridge looks like a shopping center or a big building on a river. The small balcony like architectures on it interesting too. Wish to see a closer version of it. Why butchers preferred and occupied it in the past? My guess is; Maybe for to prevent the smell.
Thanks for interesting note too
and welcome back:))

best wishes
Sibel

ekinokswest (2994) 2007-12-08 13:15

what a great scenery. the colorful houses and the river everything looks so magnificent. the fallen leaves of trees, reminding of autmn. great scenery. I appreciate your effort to take this photo from such a high place

colibriav (2208) 2007-12-08 13:48

Hola:
Precioso el puente viejo de la ciudad de Florencia. De las imagenes mejores que recuerdo de mi visita a Italia.
Un saludo desde españa:
Pablo

philsim (1914) 2007-12-08 23:19

This could be a professional shot Michael. You have created an excellent composition with beautiful colours. It has been too many years since I was last here.
Phil
p.s. I me Thomas (syd1946) yesterday. He suggested that we all meet sometime. Keep it in mind.

syd1946 (1167) 2007-12-10 0:46

Γεια σου Μιχάλη,
Πραγματικα η φωτογραφια ειναι πολυ ομορφη,ανταξια της φημης της Φλωρεντιας.Πετυχημενο το σημειο ληψης με θεα προς την φημησμενη γεφυρα και την πολη να "χανεται" στο βαθος...

Τα λεμε συντομα :)

Θωμάς

ifanik (21679) 2007-12-10 3:46

Geia soy Mixali
Poly omorfh thea
Poly kalo kadrarisma kai wraia xrwmata sth foto soy
Bravo
Kalh ebdomada
Xairetw
Nikos

portmanndominic (2400) 2007-12-10 5:18

Michael geia sou

tres beau point de vue depuis les hauteurs de Florence , tua su trouvé le bon endroit pour prendre cette superbe photo du ponte vecchio , belles couleurs aussi et une tres bonne note
Felicitations
Filika
Dominic

stamatis (2565) 2007-12-10 5:43

geia sou mixalh

omorfh panoramikh fwto ths flwrentias

panemorfa xrwmata

filika Stamatis

azaf1 (15931) 2007-12-10 11:57

Geia sou Mixali
Poli omorfi apeikonisi tou Arno. Polles omorfes leptomereies, katharotita kai iperoxi prooptiki
Evge, kai na se doume apo konta
Argiris

hay_kes (31439) 2007-12-10 15:37

Hi Michael,
Wonderful cityscape.Great point of view and nice perspective.TFS.
Regards.

hAyAti

steliosk (4802) 2007-12-11 8:23

Geia sou Mixalh

para poly omorfh skhnh me dynates grammes kai kadro pou leitourgei apsoga.

Filika
Stelios

salvator (19110) 2007-12-11 13:11

Yasu filemou,
Very nice pov to shoot the Ponte Vecchio, an architecture I just adore. Very nice composition.
Se xereto. Salvator.

saylan-cb (12738) 2007-12-12 2:02

Kalimera Michael
This is a great POV and good composition with beautiful colours,well done.
TFS/Regards

kdialyna (3148) 2007-12-12 22:49

Εξαιρετικό και εδώ το κάντρο σου Μιχάλη,αναδεικνύει όλη την ομορφιά της μοναδικής Τοσκάνης και την υπέροχη αρχιτεκτονική των κτιρίων της.
Πολύ καλό και ταιριαστό το φώς δημιουργεί απαλές φωτοσκιάσεις που τονίζουν όλες τις αρχιτεκτονικές λεπτομέρειες των κτιρίων.
Πολύ αξιόλογη και προσεγμένη λήψη.
Συγχαρητήρια
Κώστας

Hellas (7123) 2007-12-13 3:50

Μιχάλη, νομίζω ότι κάλυψες με τον καλύτερο τρόπο, τον τόπο και τον τρόπο με τον οποίο αυτός εκμεταλλεύεται από τον άνθρωπο. Το υψηλό σημείο λήψης, μας έδωσε την δυνατότητα να δούμε μακριά, ενώ δεν μας στερεί και κοντινή άποψη της όμορφης αυτής πόλης. Τελικά το υδάτινο στοιχείο προσδίδει ομορφιά στο τοπίο που σε συνδυασμό με την αρχιτεκτονική των ‘μαστόρων’ δίνει τροφή στον φωτογράφο.
Σε ευχαριστούμε που την μοιράστηκες μαζί μας.
Καλό απόγευμα,
Αθανάσιος.

batalay (41261) 2007-12-13 6:58

Hello Dear Michael,

Your note gives perspective to the history of a city we both love. The photograph itself is excellent. I imagine you are shooting from Michelangelo Square as your vantage point. I had not known that the corridor was built by Giorgio Vasari, and accordingly named in honor of the great architect, artist, but most importantly, biographer.

Warm regards,

Bulent

meltemi (0) 2007-12-13 9:42

Γεια σου Michael,
this is really a very beautiful photo. The colors are very nice and the roofs collection, from all over sharps, inclinations and directions input a nice effect. The view of Ponte Vecchio is wonderful.
Kind Regards.
Stella

danos (110407) 2007-12-14 0:41

Μιχάλη καλησπέρα,
πολύ καλή καταγραφή της γέφυρας αυτής και της γύρω περιοχής της Φλωρεντίας,με εξαιρετικά χρώματα και φως.Ο Αρνος ποταμός διασχίζοντας σχεδόν όλο το κάδρο, δημιουργεί ένα πολύ εντυπωσιακό βάθος πεδίου.Ενδιαφέρον και το σημείωμά σου.

Σε χαιρετώ,Δάνος

gbeli (1970) 2007-12-15 8:47

Geia sou Mihali
Poli omorfi fotografia apo mia poli pou agapo poli.
Kali gonia lipsis kai xromata.
Xereto

thiv56 (1628) 2008-01-24 8:23

Kalispera Mihali,

Nice composition, colourful shot, well done! TFS.