the vasari corridor served to listen people on the street.the windows even today you hear every single word being spoken on the street. >> reporter: this was about convenience, it was about safety for the medici, it was about security? >> absolutely. >> reporter: the skyway snakes for more than half a mile through florence, stretching from the uffizi, then the seat of government, above the streets across the river past the boboli gardens to palazzo pitti. >> it was a long hallway which connects to the most important buildings in florence. but originally it didn't go that far. it ended in the boboli gardens, and that changed with ferdinando de medici, who connected it with the pity palace, which became the new home of the medici family after they had acquired it. >> reporter: what does the reopening meaning? >> it means a lot of emails and a lot of requests. >> reporter: elaine ruffolo is an art historian to does tours o florence. what is the fascination? >> the fascination is because people like to enter a space that is exclusive, they feel l

so the vestry and the rector vasari is the board of trustees. they delegated a group of men to go out in the pre-dawn hours of that sunday morning. we have special passes. we actually have one of these in the church archives. and people could present this and be admitted to the church. i think no more than 220 parishioners were admitted. the rest were secret service and so it was these people were called modern day paul revere's by the the daily press that they covered this event. so it was it was a major a major day for the church and alexandria where did get out. and the the streets were lined with citizens as well as soldiers. after the service the leaders went down to mount vernon and churchill laid a wreath at the tomb of george and mrs. washington. that itself was a symbol of reconciliation from the revolution, every war. but it was remarkable that during the service, the rector wells had asked the congregation to sing the battle hymn of the republic. and so because the need for unification during that from that war, there was time for us