After French invasions, Savonarola, and a Florentine Republic that held out for three years before being starved into submission, Cosimo I de' Medici became Duke of Florence in 1537 at age 17.
He consolidated power methodically, conquered Siena, and became Grand Duke of Tuscany.
He commissioned Giorgio Vasari to build the Uffizi — literally 'offices' — for the Florentine magistracies in 1560.
The Medici gradually moved their art collection to the top floor.
In 1581, Francesco I opened it to visitors by appointment — the first purpose-built art gallery in Europe.
The modern museum was invented in this building.
Cosimo also commissioned the Vasari Corridor — an elevated private walkway from Palazzo Vecchio through the Uffizi, over the Ponte Vecchio, and into Palazzo Pitti — so the Duke never had to walk among the people.
Fun fact: the Vasari Corridor was built in 155 days in 1565, for the wedding of Cosimo's son Francesco.
It runs for nearly a kilometre entirely above street level.
