Renovation works on the Vasari Corridor in Florence will begin after Easter and are expected to take about 15 months.

Florence is set to reopen the Vasari Corridor to the public in 2022, six years after it was closed for safety reasons, with a major restoration due to begin in the coming weeks.

The renovation project will get underway after Easter and should take 15 months, the Uffizi Galleries announced today.

The Uffizi director Eike Schmidt stated that the Vasari Corridor "will be open democratically to all, for the first time in history."

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The tender for the works was won by the association of companies Fratelli Navarra-Dafne Restauri and the total cost of the project amounts to €10 million.

Dating to 1565, the kilometre-long passageway was designed by Giorgio Vasari for Cosimo I de' Medici, and runs across Ponte Vecchio to connect the Uffizi Gallery with Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens.

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The corridor will "reopen to the general public in an ordinary way, entirely rearranged, with a route and a special ticket," Schmidt said last year, adding that plans to renovate the passageway go back 60 years.

The renovation plan reportedly includes the construction of five new emergency exits, an air-conditioning system, LED lighting and video surveillance cameras.

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However, when it finally reopens, the elevated corridor will no longer display its celebrated collection of self-portraits - from Raphael to Delacroix - with the masterpieces set to be moved to the first floor of the Uffizi.

For more details see Uffizi website. Photo Le Gallerie degli Uffizi