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Who are we?

1 March 1952, a young apprentice 19 years old Armando Baldassari, opened for the first time Garage Ponte Vecchio, entirely rebuilt on the intuition of the Architect Nino Jodice designer of refined talent that also realized much of the reconstruction of Via dei Bardi and Borgo S. Jacopo, after that the 4 August 1944 the German army had mined and destroyed the entire area around the Old Bridge (3 Fighters, 71 workshops craftsmen and 123 buildings, with 3. houses, among which a About of medieval towers and a 20 of buildings of remarkable architecture and of great historical value). The 27 July 1956 it becomes the owner, working uninterruptedly, ferie (poche) excluded, for 48 years and 10 months, pairs to 17.834 days, until 28/12/2000 when retiring.

Period immediately after the destruction and the detachment of the rubble. What appears in the foreground is the place where the Garage Ponte Vecchio will be built, opened on 1 March 1952.
In the central image, the building where on the ground floor and basement there is the Garage Ponte Vecchio. In the images above and below are highlighted with the arrows the places where the old building was placed then destroyed completely by the mines of the German army
Particular of Via dei Bardi with in the foreground the rubble of all the buildings that were reflected on the Arno. On the right, the rubble where the Garage Ponte Vecchio was born. In the background the Lungarno Torrigiani.
Image taken from Lungarno Torrigiani. In the background on the right the Old Bridge. The road that opens before, via dei Bardi is completely invaded by the rubble of the mined buildings. The garage will be rebuilt on the left side.
Aerial view of the Old Bridge. The rubble has been removed for good part making the image unreal. Via dei Bardi, Via Guicciardini and Borgo S.Iacopo look like football pitches.
Plan probably of American matrix, buildings destroyed by mines are highlighted in black. Via Dei Bardi, part of the Lungarno Acciaiuoli, part of Por S. Maria, part of Borgo S. Iacopo, part of Via Guicciardini and the entire Ponte S. Trinita are reduced to a pile of rubble.
This is Bard Street before its destruction. In place of the shop of the Barbiere would have arisen the Garage Ponte Vecchio. In the background the Vasarian Corridor.

On 26 November 1982, he joined his son Andrea and in 1987 also the other son Alessio, continuing the family tradition in which the grandfather also actively participated Year. Longeva activity, characteristic, certified, carried out always by the usual family, over 70 years has allowed several hundreds of thousands of motorists to park comfortably in the center of the most beautiful and famous Renaissance city in the world. Keeping tradition and passion unaltered, the Garage Ponte Vecchio represents a constant certainty for the quality, competence and enthusiasm with which work is carried out daily. Submerged by almost 2 meters of water during flooding 4 November 1966, without the help of anyone, three days later reopening exploiting the restored ground floor.

The junction of Via dei Bardi (on DX), Via dei Barbadori and Borgo San Jacopo (on SX) with Via Guicciardini. In the background the Old Bridge.
Piazza Signoria immersed in the water of Arno.
The Old Bridge just before being overwhelmed.

25 May 2016 the collapse of the Lungarno Torrigiani, caused by the break of a large pipe of the aqueduct, completely closed the main road of entry to our garage. For 163 days, our customers literally halved were forced to improvise and tortuous alternative routes. The 4 November 2016 The Lungarno Torrigiani was reopened.

The Torrigiani prong shortly after the collapse caused by a large loss of aqueduct. The violent excavation of water collapsed the roadside by swallowing dozens of vehicles.
The long row of cars swallowed by the voragine and submerged by the water.

What seemed to have been an open-eyed nightmare, turned out terribly amplified when the 27 March 2017, after only 142 days from the restoration of the ordinary road was decided to replace the other stretch of aqueduct to the Old Bridge. He began hell... First again the closure of the Lungarno Torrigiani, then the works advanced (slowly) affecting for successive phases all via dei Bardi. When the works arrived in front of the garage it was the most total chaos. First an entrance was closed ( fortunately we have two), but logistic difficulties increased exponentially: we were forced to leave a garage wing completely empty to allow the possibility to carry out the necessary manoeuvres to the parking lot; about 40/50% of the places were sacrificed, "thank you" arriving at the garage was so complicated because of the continuous changes of the road, that the clientele halved, but the chaos at the same time expanded because having the two entrances blocked alternately, managing the entrances and departures became an enterprise that went far beyond the possibilities of a person (or a group of people). The work continued uninterruptedly, even if by phases, until the 10 August 2018 (501 days); 2 years of real madness. Obviously it didn't end here, because they weren't past that a few days from the reopening of Via dei Bardi (10 August 2018), that from 22/08/2018 to 20/09/2018 the filming of the film Six Underground affected the area, with blocks to the circulation even of several hours in the area adjacent to the Garage Ponte Vecchio, with the intuitive consequences.

June 6, 2016: this is how the Lungarno Torrigiani presents a few days after the collapse.
01 November 2017: after the works involved the Lungarno Torrigiani and Piazza S.Maria Soprarno, here is the gutting of Via dei Bardi, in front of the Garage Ponte Vecchio. In addition to the replacement of the pipe of 70 cm of aqueduct diameter, are (justly) replaced sewer system, gas pipes, electrical system, telephone etc. The second entrance is inoperable.
November 4, 2017: the main entrance is unavoidable. In the foreground the large pipe of the aqueduct already laid, waiting for the sewer system, electrical, gas, telephone etc.
12 February 2018 the works continue in front of the Garage but on the equal side of Via dei Bardi.
14 March 2018: jobs on the right side are finished; start to open the road blocking completely the second entrance.
15 April 2018: the right side is finished, the left side has been partially finished. The main entrance is blocked.
15 April 2018: the main entrance is closed waiting for the stone pavement; after assembly will have to spend 40 more days for consolidation.
April 15, 2018: waiting for the floor in front of the main entrance, you work in a thousand difficulties with the only secondary entrance.
2 May 2018: almost finished flooring, still a few weeks and also the main entrance will be free, but it certainly does not end the discomfort; the works continue towards Ponte Vecchio. A few more months of inconvenience.

In total 683 days (three summer periods) of "sofference".
Then, recent history, the Covid and the complete closure forced from 12 March to 5 May 2020, the slow and alternating return to a pseudo-normality, immediately vanified by the Russian-Ukraine war and the energy crisis

28 April 2020 at 20.51: the effects of Covid. Designs off, tight restaurants, closed shops. For the second time in its history (November's flood of '66) the Garage Ponte Vecchio had to turn off the signs.
23 April 2020 11,48: Piazza della Signoria duly empty. In "normal" times in the spring period you could not see the pavement from the amount of people present. The impressive thing, in addition to the lack of any activity or person, was the "rimbombare" of silence. Agonizing, unreal, terrifying! ! ! ! !

Four generations of Baldassari have continuously worked since 1952, to continue a consolidated tradition.We do not move vehicles in other parking spaces or even worse in the streets.
Our staff is highly qualified: we have "garagisti" that carry out parking manoeuvres with precision millimeter and not "autisti" more or less improvised that move the cars from the garage to other places distant also Km.
The Garage, opened in 1952, has always been managed continuously by our family with dedication, attachment and high professionalism.
We are maniacs as well as for how we park vehicles, also for the management of the Limited Traffic Zone, checking the plates several times. We are the most "virtuous" parking lot (and by far), all over Florence. For failure to register (usually attributable problem due to technical error), our error percentage is of 0.0047%; for errors in the typing of the plate, it 0.03%.
Four "new" young Baldassari who are entering or are coming to continue the consolidated family tradition in the management of the Garage Ponte Vecchio 1952.
Four generations of contestants... no other parking in Florence and probably in Italy can boast our tradition and our dedication.