PONTE VECCHIO
The Ponte Vecchio, literally Old Bridge, is a famous medieval bridge over the Arno, in Florence, Italy, noted for having shops (mainly jewelers) built along it.
Presumably first erected in Roman times, it was originally made of wood. After being destroyed by a flood in 1333 it was rebuilt in 1345, this time in stone.
It has always hosted shops and merchants (legend says this was originally due to a tax exemption), which displayed their goods on a table after authorisation of the Bargello (a sort of a lord mayor, a magistrate and a police authority).
It is said that the economic concept of bankruptcy originated here: when a merchant could not pay his debts, the table on which he exposed (the "banco") was physically broken ("rotto") by soldiers, and this practice was called "bancorotto" (broken table; possibly it can come from "banca rotta" which means "broken bank"). Not having a table anymore, the merchant was not able to sell anything more to anyone
