Vasari says that Brunelleschi acquired from it his inspiration for S.Lorenzo and S.Spirito.To many Florentines its principal importance is its custody of the Pazzi flints for the igniting of the sacred fire which in turn ignites the famous Carro.
Returning again to the embankment, we are quickly at the Ponte Vecchio, where it is pleasant at all times to loiter and observe both the river and the people; while from its central arches one sees the mountains.

From no point are the hill of S.Miniato and its stately cypresses more beautiful; but one cannot see the church itself--only the church of S.Niccolo below it, and of course the bronze "David".

In dry weather the Arno is green; in rainy weather yellow.

It is so sensitive that one can almost see it respond to the most distant shower; but directly the rain falls and it is fed by a thousand Apennine torrents it foams past this bridge in fury.

The Ponte Vecchio was the work, upon a Roman foundation, of Taddeo Gaddi, Giotto's godson, in the middle of the fourteenth century, but the shops are, of course, more recent.