Who Are Our Modern Medici?
Some thoughts during a visit to Florence
High above the throngs of tourists gathered around the Fountain of Neptune in Florence’s famous Piazza della Signoria, or shopping along the Ponte Vecchio or strolling through the Boboli Gardens, glides a 460-year-old engineering marvel.
The Vasari Corridor, a one-kilometer long aerial enclosed walkway, would be an impressive feat of construction even if it were built today.
Constructed in 1565 on the orders of Cosimo I de Medici, its stated purpose was to allow the wealthy, out-of-town guests to the wedding of his son, Francesco, to navigate the city unbothered by grubby commoners. But some historians speculate it was really to protect he and his family from attacks from citizens unhappy with his rule.
(His predecessor, Grand Duke Alessandro, had just reconquered the city-state in 1531, putting a final end to the Re…
