Italian culture minister to inaugurate landmark.

The Vasari Corridor in Florence will reopen to the public on 21 December after eight years of major renovation works, Uffizi director Simone Verde confirmed on Thursday.

The Florentine landmark, which links the Uffizi Galleries with Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens, will be inaugurated by Italy's culture minister Alessandro Giuli on 20 December.

The elevated kilometre-long passageway which runs across Ponte Vecchio was closed for safety reasons in November 2016.

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.