Uffizi Gallery

Offices

The Uffizi began as offices, and the name means exactly that

Giorgio Vasari began the building in 1560 for Cosimo I de' Medici, to bring the city's committees, agencies and guilds into one place. It was completed in 1581. Uffizi means offices.

The Tribuna

Francesco I had one room built to show the best of the collection

Grand Duke Francesco I asked Buontalenti to design the Tribuna, an octagonal room that would display masterpieces and jewels together. It was completed in 1584 and became a highly influential attraction of a Grand Tour.

The pact

The Medici gave their collection to the city under a family pact

After the Medici line ended, their last heiress, Anna Maria Luisa, negotiated the Patto di famiglia, the family pact, which gave the art to Florence. The gallery opened to the public in 1769 and formally became a museum in 1865.

The corridor

A private walkway ran from the old palace through the Uffizi to the Pitti

Cosimo I commissioned Giorgio Vasari to build the corridor in 1564, to be finished in five months for his son's wedding. It crosses the Ponte Vecchio and lets the Grand Duke move undisturbed between the two palaces.

1 kmthe approximate length of the Vasari Corridor

A hard night

A car bomb in 1993 killed five people and damaged the Uffizi

On 27 May 1993 the Sicilian Mafia set off a car bomb in Via dei Georgofili. It killed five people, destroyed five pieces of art and damaged another 30. The Niobe room was hit hardest and has since been restored.