The Vasari Corridor, the covered
walkway linking the Uffizi Gallery with Palazzo Pitti in
Florence, is due to reopen to the public following renovations
in May 2024 on the anniversary of the Via dei Georgofili
Sicilian Mafia bombing, Uffizi director Eike Schmidt said on
Wednesday.
The corridor running above the iconic Pone Vecchio that spans
the Arno River was closed to the public in 2016 for safety
reasons.
Since then it has been undergoing refurbishment involving
installation of a new lighting system and air conditioning and
to make it fully accessible to all visitors. "Today we are
entering the final phase of the work" for the reopening of the
Vasari Corridor, said Schmidt on the sidelines of a press
conference on the donation by the Edwin L. Wiegand Foundation of
one million dollars for the new exhibition layout.
"Many of the measures to adapt to fire and air conditioning
requirements and also to accessibility standards are already
completed and so we are now ready to finish, put the final
touches to the structure and systems and then start with the
layout," he added.
Schmidt said it is his intention to reopen the Vasari Corridor
to coincide with the anniversary of the Cosa Nostra mafia
bombing near the Uffizi Galleries on the night of May 26-27,
1993, in which five people were killed.
The Vasari Corridor was built in 1565 to a design by architect
Giorgio Vasari after Florence's then Medici rulers decided they
wanted to move freely and secretly between the seat of city
government in Palazzo Vecchio and their private palace in
Palazzo Pitti on the other side of the Arno.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
