A Renaissance Era secret passage reopens in Florence

[@rossrreyes]

As an American student studying in Florence 20+ years ago my school was close to that structure; every lunch time we’d sit by the river and I never saw anyone walk past the windows of that overhead corridor. I always wondered why it was there; I never made the connection that in lead from The Pitti Palace all the way to the Uffizi. Hidden in plain sight was really applicable here

[@vistacyclingtuscany]

Where were you studying? There's still a lot of American students here, enjoying their time in Florence.

[@laurencedarabia2000]

Don't worry, most of those who live and pass by there every day don't know it even if someone told them that the Vasari Corridor is up there.

[@gaborjurina2839]

I was thinking of my favourite movie of all time, A Room With A View, a love letter to Florence, and then you finished the piece O Mio Babbino Caro, I feel seen hahahahaha

[@RaymondHng]

5:04 Music is from the aria "O mio babbino caro" from the Puccini opera _Gianni Schicchi_ The lyrics: _...Vo'andare in Porta Rossa_ _A comperar l'anello!_ _Sì, sì, ci voglio andare!_ _E se l'amassi indarno_ _Andrei sul Ponte Vecchio_ _Ma per buttarmi in Arno!..._ ...I want to go to Porta Rossa To buy the ring! Yes, yes, I want to go! And if I loved him in vain I would go to the Ponte Vecchio But to throw myself into the Arno!... It is sung by Lauretta after tensions between her father Schicchi and the family of Rinuccio, the boy she loves, have reached a breaking point that threatens to separate her from Rinuccio. It provides an interlude expressing lyrical simplicity and love in contrast with the atmosphere of hypocrisy, jealousy, double-dealing, and feuding in medieval Florence.

[@MrDsalomon]

You hear this music in the 1985 movie "A Room with a View," which is partly set in Florence

[@BellaFirenze]

Ti manca l'inizio dell'aria. Cordiali saluti da Firenze. kzbin.info/www/bejne/omKmaYF8ecl5j8k

[@RaymondHng]

@ It's an excerpt from the aria. I preceded it with an ellipsis. È un estratto dell'aria. L'ho preceduto con punti di sospensione. The version used in the soundtrack of film _A Room with a View_ was performed by Kiri Te Kanawa. La versione utilizzata nella colonna sonora del film _Camera con Vista_ è stata eseguita da Kiri Te Kanawa. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIPYioRvgLd9o9U

[@BellaFirenze]

@@RaymondHng Ho capito. Preferisco La Callas. Conosco bene il film. Ciao!

[@tanastoiberg7981]

Beautifully said. Your love for this opera is apparent in the way you so eloquently recite the verses to it. I love everything about the Italian culture, especially the music, food, architecture, and joie de vie of the people. I would so much enjoy visiting Italy. It's killing me that my financial situation prevents me from being able to see this beautiful place. ☹️

[@tanastoiberg7981]

I would love to visit Florence and see this pathway above the river. Such a fascinating history of the royal families who lived there.

[@ShirleyPotts-l1y]

This is very special

[@ChuckStewart-q3z]

Every civilization across Europe n the Middle East has built ON TOP of the other. LITERALLY. I enjoy reading of Found "Underground " buildings, tunnels,etc. 😊

[@steveconn]

I spent a few months studying film in Florence. Beautiful city (Arno a bit polluted though). Wrote part of a Klaus Kinski musical there. The Uffizi is a must visit! 🎉

[@patrickfitzgerald2861]

The Arno has been an open sewer for a very long time. Have you visited since the pandemic? Apparently not even tourist-friendly Firenze can handle the tsunami of people arriving there now, regardless of the season.

[@hdtravel1]

I loved visiting Florence - amazing place - visit it before you die buddies !!!

[@real_hello_kitty]

Good idea.

[@tanastoiberg7981]

This is on my bucket list if I can find the money to go. Money is the only thing preventing me from seeing Italy. 🇮🇹

[@cstevephillips]

The music at 5.04 is also in the 1985 film 'A Room with a View' set in Florence

[@BellaFirenze]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/omKmaYF8ecl5j8k

[@r8chlletters]

My sister was able to use it while it was “closed” as she was traveling with some well connected and wealthy tourists.

[@jasonflay8818]

Damn. I was there in May, wish it was open

[@michaeljohnangel6359]

Where are the self-portraits? The Vasari Corridor used to house the greatest collection of self-portraits in the world - Rubens, Velàsquez, Andrea del Sarto, Alma-Tadema, Leighton ....

[@paulrosa6173]

In 98 I walked to the Pitti Palace from the Uffizi and tried to follow the passage. That passage tells me why the Florentines in Lorenzo's day sacked the Medici palace three times. They could tell what was coming. The Medici would simply move to one of their estates (at least a half dozen) in the suburbs and wait until they could bribe themselves into reinstatement. Their rise meant the death of the Florentine Republic. Grand Duke Cosimo could not walk the streets of his own city. He was not there because of the support of the Florentine people. They didn't seem to count and he may not have even liked how they smelled? He was there because he owned and controlled so much of the city and its resources. The creative flowering of Florence was more or less dead too. Florence lived on in its fading glories while the rest of Europe took up the further development of industry, invention and the arts. BTW - The Pitti Palace is the source or the inspiration for Lebrun's work at Versailles. Were those heating vents in the floor of one of the corridors?

[@LMays-cu2hp]

Looking very nice!!😊😊

[@xjAlbert]

At 5:05 we hear familiar music, whose lyrics mention the Ponte Vecchio and the Arno River. The song is from an opera by Puccini. You didn't know you like Opera, did you?

[@RaymondHng]

From the aria "O mio babbino caro" from the Puccini opera _Gianni Schicchi_ The lyrics: _...Vo'andare in Porta Rossa_ _A comperar l'anello!_ _Sì, sì, ci voglio andare!_ _E se l'amassi indarno_ _Andrei sul Ponte Vecchio_ _Ma per buttarmi in Arno!..._ ...I want to go to Porta Rossa To buy the ring! Yes, yes, I want to go! And if I loved him in vain I would go to the Ponte Vecchio But to throw myself into the Arno!... It is sung by Lauretta after tensions between her father Schicchi and the family of Rinuccio, the boy she loves, have reached a breaking point that threatens to separate her from Rinuccio. It provides an interlude expressing lyrical simplicity and love in contrast with the atmosphere of hypocrisy, jealousy, double-dealing, and feuding in medieval Florence. The aria is featured on the soundtrack in the film _A Room with a View_ (1985). New Zealand soprano Kiri Te Kanawa recorded a popular rendition that can be found on KZbin.

[@vistacyclingtuscany]

Excellent news for our guests here. And after visiting the corridor, don't forget to get out of the city on your Tuscany trip. The Chianti countryside and surrounding mountains is where the other treasures lie! 🌳🇮🇹

[@StarWarsMG]

Home state of Minnesota mentioned ❤️

[@ChuckStewart-q3z]

LOL. Gentrification in the Renaissance era. How funny. "Didn't like the fish smells!"😅

[@mattbosley3531]

Visited Florence about 17 years ago. I walked across the Ponte Vecchio and saw the Uffizi. Beautiful city.

[@vivek27789]

Great

[@ccityplanner1217]

You say it closed in 2016. I was there in 2013 & it was not open.

[@leavandenbosch7808]

I was there in the late sixties, there had been a flood in ssome parts, you can still see how high the Arno rose on that day,

[@vistacyclingtuscany]

Yes, even out in the suburbs, flood levels were above head height! My aunt was there working for the Pucci family not long after you.

[@leavandenbosch7808]

@@vistacyclingtuscany it was in 1966 i think. So floods are from all times

[@vistacyclingtuscany]

@@leavandenbosch7808 you were there the very same year! Must have been a huge clean-up job to witness.

[@leavandenbosch7808]

@@vistacyclingtuscany 1969

[@real_hello_kitty]

Oooh, so that's what inside that bridge. I always wondered...

[@abark]

No mention of the original reason it closed?

[@Chr.U.Cas1622]

👍👌👏 Oh WOW, simply fantastic! All that was done in only 5 months and even almost 500 years ago. Nowadays big projects usually get delayed several times and costs explode exorbitantly. See for instance the new airport in Berlin, the Elbphilharmonie and the even more pathetic and embarrassing Stuttgart 21 train station!

[@ВладимирМорозов-ы3л]

Спасибо, очень интересно!

[@jpdj2715]

If the old bridge gave place to tanneries then these would completely mask the smell of rotten fish and meat.

[@cavb748]

It was private, nor secret.

[@dorenerubin2534]

What is this music.

[@RaymondHng]

5:04 Music is from the aria "O mio babbino caro" from the Puccini opera _Gianni Schicchi_ The lyrics: _...Vo'andare in Porta Rossa_ _A comperar l'anello!_ _Sì, sì, ci voglio andare!_ _E se l'amassi indarno_ _Andrei sul Ponte Vecchio_ _Ma per buttarmi in Arno!..._ ...I want to go to Porta Rossa To buy the ring! Yes, yes, I want to go! And if I loved him in vain I would go to the Ponte Vecchio But to throw myself into the Arno!... It is sung by Lauretta after tensions between her father Schicchi and the family of Rinuccio, the boy she loves, have reached a breaking point that threatens to separate her from Rinuccio. It provides an interlude expressing lyrical simplicity and love in contrast with the atmosphere of hypocrisy, jealousy, double-dealing, and feuding in medieval Florence. The aria is featured on the soundtrack in the film _A Room with a View_ (1985). New Zealand soprano Kiri Te Kanawa recorded a popular rendition that can be found on KZbin.

[@FGH9G]

How typical of a super rich elite disliking the smell of fish and seafood and demanding it to be removed LOL.

[@RaymondHng]

It's the smell of raw fish that is unpleasant. They didn't have refrigeration back then.

[@themaskedman221]

Oh lord, every time, without fail, there's an anti-super-rich-elite rant below every video. One suspects this is what living through the Red Scare was like, only with the communists as the objects of obsession.

[@BellaFirenze]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/omKmaYF8ecl5j8k

[@BellaFirenze]

Mi piace leggere i commenti sulla mia città natale.

[@jpdj2715]

The Firenze (Florence) city has used the passage as an entertainment tourist thing where actors in period costume offered a sort of Cluedo or WhoDunnIt act for minors to solve. Great fun, it was.

[@Trafalgarl96]

Si chiama rinascimento not reinassance

[@brianparkhurst1019]

I hate Seth. Getting paid to travel, hanging out in Europe. Him and Rick steves. I love my life, and am very fortunate, but dam.

[@OnlyThe1Son]

and whats that gonna cost? LOL

[@user-sy3dg1vk4x]

SATYAM SHIVAM SUNDARAM SATYA HI SHIV HAI SHIV HI SUNDAR HAI 🍀🙏 BY RAVINDER TALWAR JALANDHAR CITY PUNJAB INDIA (13-1-25)

[@jjschnabel6436]

Is it just me? That passage way is kinda ugly compared to the other bridges without a secret passage way. And what is secret about it? It's right there.

[@leapintothewild]

😂 Host said the secret was the Medici family could traverse from one place to another without being seen by the common folk, better for security.

[@Stylographic]

The historical meaning of a place has nothing to do with its supposed ugliness… IF you can really define it “ugly”. Try to look beyond the surface.

[@benisturning30]

A hallway? That’s it!?

[@-FALKOR]

🇺🇦🎗‬‬‬🌹‬‬‬🇮🇱‬‬‬

[@gianlucavisca3419]

Florentia La Magnifica...Florence the Magnificent. TOSCANA FELIX 1 ❤❤❤

[@user-sy3dg1vk4x]

MAGIC AND MIRACLES ARE SPECIALLY BLESSED BY THE GRACE OF ALMIGHTY GOD BY RAVINDER TALWAR JALANDHAR CITY PUNJAB INDIA 🍀