After visiting the grand Basilica, our tour group headed to visit Ponte Vecchio . Ponte Vecchio. The Ponte Vecchio ("Old Bridge") is a medieval bridge over the Arno River in Florence, Italy, famous for still having shops built along it, as was common. At the heart of Ponte Vecchio, we saw a statue of Benvenuto Cellini who was an Italian goldsmith, sculptor, painter, soldier and musician, and he also wrote a famous autobiography. He was one of the most important artists of Mannerism. But the tour group was more interested in the splendid views of the Arno River around the statue as well as the Lovers' Locks around the statue. Legend has it that if you and your loved one attach a padlock to any surface of the famous bridge and then throw away the key into the Arno River below, your love will last forever. Millions of couples have come to the Ponte Vecchio for expressly this reason, to lock in their love and throw away the key for eternity.
