FLORENCE, ITALY – The first great recorded flood of the Arno was in November 1333 and reportedly killed more than 3,000 people. It was chronicled by Giovanni Villani, a contemporary historian, diplomat, and banker.
Villani states that by noon on Thursday, November 4, 1333, a flood along the Arno River spread across the entire plain of San Salvi. He wrote that by nightfall the eastern wall of the city that was damming the water became damaged and then washed away in the flood, allowing the flood waters to breach and fill the city streets.
He claims that the water rose above the altar in the Florence Baptistry, reaching over half the height of the porphyry columns. Bartlett notes that these columns, presented to Florence by the Pisans more than two hundred years before, have scratched lines to this day indicating the water level reached by the flood in 1333.
Villani further claims that the height of the flood water in the courtyard of the commune’s palace (residence of the podestà) reached 3 m (10 ft). The Carraia bridge collapsed with the exception of two of its arches, while the Trinità bridge collapsed except for one pier and one arch located towards the church of the Santa Trinità.
The Ponte Vecchio – save the two central piers – was swept away when huge logs in the rushing water became clogged around the it, allowing the water to build and leap over the arches, states Villani. There was an old statue of Mars that stood on a pedestal near the Ponte Vecchio, but this too was taken by the flood along the Arno.
In the same day, November 4, 1966 flood of the Arno River in Florence killed 101 people and damaged or destroyed millions of masterpieces of art and rare books. It is considered the worst flood in the city’s history.
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