Italian culture minister inaugurates landmark.

The Vasari Corridor in Florence opens to the general public, for the first time, on Saturday 21 December after eight years of major renovation works.

The Florentine landmark, which links the Uffizi Galleries with Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens, was inaugurated by Italy's culture minister Alessandro Giuli on Friday.

The elevated kilometre-long passageway which runs across Ponte Vecchio was previously open to scholars and for private visits but was closed for safety reasons in November 2016.

The Vasari Corridor as it was in the time of Medici. Reopening on December 21, after 8 years and for the first time ever to the general public, the famous 'aerial tunnel' of the Uffizi above the heart of Florence.⁠

https://t.co/lbeczvEtrK pic.twitter.com/GqZ2vP6A9G

— Gallerie degli Uffizi (@UffiziGalleries) December 20, 2024

The €11 million programme of works, designed to make the structure safer and more accessible to visitors, included the installation of new emergency exits, lights and surveillance cameras.

Named after its designer, Italian Renaissance painter and architect Giorgio Vasari, the walkway was built in 1565 for Cosimo I de' Medici, founder of the Florentine Medici dynasty.

The Vasari Corridor will be accessible with a special ticket: visitors enter through the Uffizi, walk over Ponte Vecchio and exit through the Boboli Gardens. For full details see Uffizi website.