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Art of Loving Italy

Art of Loving Italy

Art & Beauty are all around us.

Ponte Vecchio Florence’s Historical Bridge

May 28, 2016 by Melissa Muldoon Leave a Comment

Photo Credit: Ponte Vecchio Light Festival in Florence, Adobe Stock

It seems the Ponte Vecchio in Florence is always in the news for one reason or another! Are you familiar with the famous landmark? Have you walked across one of the original Florentine bridges that connect the Oltrarno to the city center?

Photo Credit: Ponte Vecchio, Adobe Stock

At the foot of the bridge, it is said Dante waited each day for Beatrice to pass by, hoping to see the face of the woman he loved. Also once upon a time, during medieval times, it was home to Florentine butchers. It was the perfect place to house the “macellai” whose task was to slice and dice up pigs and cows. When the butchers were ready to dispose of the bones and carcasses, they simply dumped them into the river below. Such an easy clean-up solution.

Photo Credit: Ponte Vecchio, Adobe Stock

But Cosimo, the Grand Duke of Tuscany, the husband of Eleonora de Medici (the woman with the fabulous gown, painted often by the artist Bronzino) decided to construct a private gallery over the bridge. He hired Giorgio Vasari as the architect and now it is known as the Vasari corridor. But, Cosimo it seems had a sensitive nose and grew tired of the stench of the butchers. He decided to boot the butchers from the bridge and replace them with goldsmiths and jewelers. In his mind an improvement—as well as a less odiferous group of tradesmen.

ponte-vecchio-florence-famous-bridge
1966 Flood in Florence

During World War II, this bridge was the only one not bombed by Germans, rumored to be special order from Hitler itself. During the 1960’s it was threatened once again by the floodwaters that rose up threatening to explode the pilings. The storm had no mercy and was ready to topple the medieval bridge that even the Nazis had been too respectful to destroy. But when the banks gave way dumping its contents into the city instead the bridge remained standing.

Photo Credit: Ponte Vecchio Light Festival in Florence, Adobe Stock
Photo Credit: Ponte Vecchio Light Festival in Florence, Adobe Stock

Last December the bridge was in the news again. It was a part of the city’s light show display. The bridge was adorned with beautiful images of art.

PonteVecchio_StudentessaMatta1
Photo Credit: abc.net.au News

But, this week the Ponte Vecchio was in the news once again. It seems very nearby due to an underground water main break along the Arno River a 200-yard-long sinkhole opened up burying dozens of parked cars. Mayor Dario Nardella stressed that the underground flooding was the result of a gash in a two-foot diameter pipe, one of the major water conduits in the neighborhood, and not a leak in the banks of the Arno.

PonteVecchio_StudentessaMatta4
Photo Credit: abc.net.au News

So no need to panic. The bridge didn’t take a dive into the brink. Thank goodness! Apparently, the bridge will live on to see another day!

Photo Credit: Ponte Vecchio Light Festival in Florence, Adobe Stock

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Filed Under: Medieval Tagged With: Arno, Dreaming Sophia, Fiume, Florence, Melissa Muldoon, Ponte Vecchio, Vasari Corridor

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The Matta Book Club returns this fall with a new n The Matta Book Club returns this fall with a new novel!! 

More details and the big reveal of the title and the author and details how to sign up for the book club will come next week in a post on the StudentessaMatta.com website... so stay tuned. 

Currently, I'm still in Italy wrapping up a very successful language program in Arezzo! We had a wonderful time!

Now I'm at the beach and currently finishing up the next book club read! LOL

What I can tell you about the novel is that it is a contemporary adventure/murder mystery set in Italy, that takes you from Monte Carlo to London and to France where two thieves board the Orient Express to Venice as they track down Casanova's diary. 

Next week you will have the chance to sign up for group book club meetings of up to 3 or 4 readers, or individual sessions. The novel is available in print and audio and it is my recommendation, with plenty of lead time to read the novel during the summer months prior to the October start date, so that we can really dive into the story, and plot, and work on grammar and idioms.

Stay tuned! State sintonizzati! A presto!
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Buongiorno principessa! Siamo pronti per il mare! Buongiorno principessa! Siamo pronti per il mare! 😃

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