A 680-year-old tourist attraction in Europe is getting a £1.7million renovation for the first time ever.
The Ponte Vecchio in Florence is one of the most iconic sights in the city and is living history going back to the Romans.
The bridge has survived floods, Allied bombing in the Second World War, and plenty of starry-eyed tourists stumbling over it and through the jewellery shops lining it.
The 30m structure is now set to see the biggest repair work completed in sixty years, with arches, the wing walls, paving stones and parapets to be restored.
Cracks will be filled in, grout will replaced, and weeds and moss are to be stripped away to leave the bridge looking spic and span.
The £1.7million project will begin this autumn and is expected to be completed by 2026.
“We are leaving an enormous legacy,” Dario Nardella, the city’s mayor, told The Times.
“This is a unique structure that is loved by Florentines and the entire world.”
Most of the work will be carried out from a pontoon below the bridge during the spring and summer months, when the waters are calmer.
With Brunelleschi’s dome roof on the city’s cathedral, is one of the main symbols of Florence.
There has been a bridge in that spot since at least 123AD when it was commissioned by the emperor Hadrian.
Since then, several versions have bee washed away by floods until the current bridge was built in 1345.
The Ponte Vecchio was the only bridge in Florence that was not blown up by Nazis retreating from the British Army during the Second World War.
In 1966, the bridge was badly damaged in a flood that killed 100 people, but only limited restoration work was carried out.
The bill will be split two ways between the council and Marchesi Antinori, a Florence wine company that is nearly as old as the bridge.
The bridge will remain open to shopkeepers and tourists.
Florence is a fabulous cultural city stuffed full of Renaissance gems.
But you don’t need to be able to afford a piece of posh artwork to go there for the weekend.
There is no better place to go for art lovers, with Florence being home to famous works from Michelangelo, Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci.
You can also dine like a king, with slices of pizza for €1.50 (£1.29) and pasta dishes from €5 (£4.29).
And the Italian city is now easier to get to.
Earlier this year, British Airways launched new daily flights from Heathrow and Florence.
With far greater crowds in the summer, you’ll get cheaper flights and calmer streets in the autumn and beyond.
