The Ponte Vecchio: the bridge of goldsmiths
The only bridge the Germans didn't blow, the secret corridor above it, and the jewellers' shops below. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Piazzale degli Uffizi
Start in the long courtyard between the Uffizi wings, where the river end frames the bridge. Walk down toward the Arno and you'll see the *Corridoio Vasariano* begin overhead — the covered passage the Medici used to cross the city without touching the street.

2. Por Santa Maria
The street that fed the bridge from the north bank, rebuilt after the war in a stripped-back style you'll spot at once against the older fabric. Don't rush it; it sets up the approach. The goldsmiths' windows start before you reach the water.

3. Ponte Vecchio
The 1345 bridge that has carried shops since the start — butchers once, then goldsmiths after a Medici grand duke banned the smell of meat under his corridor. Walk to the open middle, where the parapet breaks for the view up and down the river. Go early, before the crowd thickens.

4. Benvenuto Cellini bust
The bronze bust on the central parapet honours the goldsmith-sculptor, patron saint of the bridge's trade. Look for the padlocks clipped to the railing around it — the city cuts them off, the lovers keep coming. A two-minute pause, then cross to the south bank.

5. Santa Felicita
Just over the bridge on the left, the church with a Medici balcony built into its facade — the corridor passes straight through so the family could hear Mass unseen. Pontormo's luminous *Deposition* hangs in the first chapel on the right; bring a coin for the light.

6. Piazza de' Pitti
The walk lands at the vast rusticated front of the Pitti Palace, the Medici's later home and the corridor's far end. You don't have to go in — the sloping piazza is a fine place to sit, and the *gelato* nearby is the reward for an early start. The C3 electric bus runs back from here.

The Ponte Vecchio: the bridge of goldsmiths