Florence Sights 3 - The River Arno & Ponte Vecchio

The River Arno starts in the Apennines, the mountain range that runs down the middle of Italy, and flows through Florence, Tuscany and Pisa before entering the Ligurian Sea just near Pisa.
In Florence it runs through historical centre, passing by the Uffizi Gallery, under the Ponte Vecchio and on out of town.
It is like many European cities - all cemented in - very little parkland alongside the river until you are away from town. Residents of Melbourne do not realise how lucky we are to have the Yarra and the gardens alongside all the way from the city centre through to Kew, Fairfield and beyond.
Also like a lot of European cities, the Arno has a huge weir built into the river in town, that controls the flow of the water and the different levels of the river. I have never understood how these weirs work, so if anyone knows, please tell me. For those not familiar with them, they are built like a small waterfall diagonally across the length of the river - they do not run at 90 degree angles from the bank, but more like 45 degrees or even sharper. They look impressive, but what do they actually do? The Florentines in summer use them as a bathing area as you can see in one or two of the photos.
The buildings are built right onto or over the bank of the river and look very Italian. At night there are excellent reflections of the lights and the buildings. On New Years Eve there were fireworks which looked lovely over the water.
The Ponte Vecchio
The Old Bridge is another landmark of Italy. I am told by the Florentines themselves and in all the guide books, that when the Germans evacuated Florence towards the end of WW2, Hitler personally ordered all the bridges to be blown up, except the Ponte Vecchio because he liked it and the history of the bridge! A friend has also just informed me that Hitler wanted to keep the Vasari Corridor around in case he needed it as an escape route, just like the Medici of old! (see previous entry on the Palazzo Vecchio for info in the Vasari Corridor). The current bridge was built in 1345 on the site of a few earlier bridges, dating back to Roman times. It is famous for the shops along the bridge. Originally they were butchers, but now they are gold merchants and expensive jewellers. The shops are rather cute and have hinged wooden fronts and doors, that all lock up when the merchants close shop. Mind you they are open very long hours. Some also have residences attached.
It is a tourist mecca in Florence and at peak periods, you cannot move for the crowds of people! Fortunately, we were there over winter, when it was much quieter and I found several quiet times when I could just wander over the bridge and enjoy looking. In October and March I used any other bridge I could to avoid the crowds.
On the fence around the statue on the bridge are hundreds of padlocks. In my innocence, I thought they were for people's bikes, but was corrected by my cousin in Rome who told me that it is a popular custom for lovers or boy & girlfriends to place them there and throw away the key as a sign of their eternal love. It became very popular when it was done in an Italian film and now it has become a nuisance. (A bit like the coins in the Trevi Fountain in Rome. Although Rome also has its version of the padlocks on the lookout on one of the hills overlooking Rome - I know - I went there).
A lot people have told me that they think it is a lovely bridge. For me it is like a lot of Florence. It is not lovely, but it is interesting, its history and age are fascinating and it is photogenic. Personally, I prefer old stone bridges that don't have painted boxes all over them. On the bridge, the shops look cute with their old wooden shutters, but from afar, the hotchpotch of shops and buildings look like coloured toy boxes heaped untidily on top. Because the Italians love cement and render, they are all smooth and painted different colours. When the sun shines on them they look fabulous, as they glow and the paint they use absorbs the sun, but on a dull day it looks rather flat and messy. I think I just prefer the look of old stone bridges as is. I still like the ponte vecchio, but it is not always "lovely"!
The photos show the bridge, reflections, the weir, the Vasari corridor over the bridge (see earlier blog on the Palazzo Vecchio), the padlocks, the shopfronts, including a fabulous silver boat on sale in one of the jewellers, and finally night lights and New Years Eve.