Ponte Vecchio

The Ponte Vecchio has crossed the Arno since 1345 — the only Florentine bridge to survive the German retreat in 1944. It has carried shops along its span for nearly the entire seven centuries of its existence; originally butchers and tanners, then, after a 1593 decree of Ferdinand I, exclusively goldsmiths and jewelers, who occupy it still. Above the shops runs the Vasari Corridor, a covered passageway built so the Medici could cross the city without descending to street level.

Photographed in October 2016 during my first time in Italy. The Ponte Vecchio is one of those landmarks where the layers of history are visibly stacked on top of each other; the bridge below, the shops on the bridge, the Vasari Corridor on the shops.