The Ponte Vecchio has existed since the time of the the Romans but was destroyed by flooding in 1117 and again in 1333. It was built for the last time in 1345 with three very wide spans with space for shops on either side. The first to settle here were butchers and grocers, shoemakers etc. In 1591 Ferdinando I evicted them all except goldsmiths and today it is one jewelrey shop after the other with two clearings in the middle to look up and downstream. 
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