| It is in fact this horse-shoe shaped palace, | | | | certain basic rules which were to ensure that |
| whose two wings stretch from Palazzo Vecchio | | | | the newly reconstructed areas of the building |
| to the Arno, that actually creates the square | | | | could in some way be recognized from the |
| itself; the porticoes on the western side | | | | original. Therefore a zig-zagging fracture |
| open off into Via Lambertesca, a narrow | | | | line divides the floor of the huge Assembly |
| street that leads right into the heart of the | | | | Hall on the first floor, to delimit the area |
| oldest part of the city, the mediaeval area | | | | that fell to the ground, and another line on |
| that Vasari partly demolished to make room | | | | the facade, a vertical one this time, divides |
| for his new creation.It was here that the | | | | the ancient decorated walls from the new. Two |
| mafia car-bomb exploded on the night of May | | | | large canvases by the painter Bartolomeo |
| 27th 1993, on the corner between Via | | | | Bimbi were unfortunately irreparably damaged |
| Lambertesca and Via dei Georgofili, killing | | | | and could be replaced. This catastrophe, |
| five people and causing damage to the | | | | however, led to some unexpected and |
| artistic heritage of Florence. The explosion | | | | extraordinary results, like the discovery of |
| seriously damaged the upper rooms of the | | | | seven small rooms, which were once part of |
| Uffizi and disembowelled the ancient house | | | | the State Archives, later walled up and |
| and tower of the Pulci family beneath it, | | | | forgotten and now available for the use of |
| from 1932 the seat of the historic Academy of | | | | Academy of the Georgofili once more. Above |
| the Georgofili, specialized in agricultural | | | | all it revealed the existence of a well and |
| studies and the conservation of the territory | | | | staircase system that leads up from the |
| since 1753. The tremendous sight is still a | | | | cellars to the upper floors and which |
| vivid memory for all the rescuers who first | | | | probably is the last trace of the house that |
| arrived on the scene after the explosion: | | | | the Florentine land register of 1427 noted as |
| this time the small palace of the Georgofili, | | | | being the property of Jacopo di Francesco de' |
| which had survived so many wars and floods, | | | | Pulci and father of Luigi, a friend of |
| seemed really to have suffered its death | | | | Lorenzo Il Magnifico and author of the poem |
| blow. One half of its facade (200 square | | | | "Morgante". The house and tower still bear |
| metres) had been completely destroyed, | | | | the name of the Pulci family even today, in |
| shattered in the explosion, a huge pit, about | | | | spite of the fact that the building appears |
| ten metres deep, had opened up in the | | | | to have passed to the Gherardini family after |
| interior, while the whole of the south wall, | | | | 1433.The well and the staircase that winds |
| which faced onto the Courtyard of the | | | | around it and reaches the top floor of the |
| Caldaie, was in danger of collapsing, because | | | | Uffizi Gallery are now free of the walls and |
| it had been shifted 10 centimetres by the | | | | plaster that once hid them; the grey stone |
| impact. The attic-flat that had been created | | | | archivolt and steps have been restored in |
| at the top of the tower in the early 20th | | | | order to form a single and harmonious unit |
| century had crashed to the ground, covering | | | | with the various rooms of the Academy. Apart |
| the bodies of the four people who lived in it | | | | from being an unexpected reward for all those |
| with rubble: the caretaker of the Academy, | | | | who worked on restoring the building, this |
| her husband and their two little daughters, | | | | discovery is yet another demonstration of |
| one aged nine and the other only two months. | | | | Giorgio Vasari's skill in construction, as he |
| The fifth victim was a student who lived in | | | | managed to incorporate the ancient tower of |
| the house opposite, which was also directly | | | | the Pulci family into the revolutionary |
| hit by the explosion.Florence has always | | | | architecture of the Uffizi without destroying |
| replied to barbaric acts such as this by | | | | it. |
| immediately getting on with mending her | | | | |
| wounds and rebuilding everything that has | | | | In fact the original project included plans |
| been damaged "as it was and where it was". | | | | to expropriate and demolish at least 43 |
| Once the huge patrimony of books belonging to | | | | houses and towers in order to build the new |
| the Academy (50.000 volumes plus 4.000 essays | | | | palace of the "Uffici" or offices, but Cosimo |
| from the archives of the Georgofili) had been | | | | de' Medici decided that this would be far too |
| carried away to safety and all the rubble | | | | expensive in the long run and therefore the |
| removed, the walls that were still standing | | | | most of the buildings were spared though they |
| were reinforced and the ones that had been | | | | were eventually incorporated into the new |
| destroyed were reconstructed. Traditional | | | | construction. The Tower of the Pulci and the |
| techniques were combined with advanced | | | | results of this extraordinary restoration |
| technological solutions: the roof and bent | | | | work can be visited daily during the hours in |
| tiles were made by hand, the corbels and | | | | which the Academy of the Georgofili is open |
| capitals carved by Florentine craftsmen but | | | | to the public and that is from Mondays to |
| use was also made of mortar injections, | | | | Fridays, from 3.00pm to 6.30pm.Alberto |
| chains, steel plates and bolts. Great care | | | | Scarsi is Chief Editor at : Your source for |
| was taken during restoration to keep to | | | | accommodations in Florence, Italy. |