Interesting News from Vrnjacka Banja (Town in Central Serbia) : One history board, next to little bridge. On railing of the bridge thousands of padlocks with names on them. We found that bridge is called "Bridge of Love". We also learn that girls from Serbia wanting to preserve their love, write their names and those of their loved ones on padlocks, and tie them to the bridge fence, and symbolically throw the keys into the river..
From the Bridge of love History Board
“At the dawn of the First World War, while the war was not even suspected yet, a schoolmistress Nada and a Serbian officer Relja started having deep feelings for each other. They fell in love and made a commitment to each other. It was a love widely talked about, attracting the attention of all the people living at Vrnjacka Banja Spa. But the war did break out with all the horrors it entails. Relja went off to war fought in Greece. He left never to return on account of a beautiful Greek woman he had fallen in love with, and therefore broke up the engagement to Nada. The legend does not say anything about his further fate, whereas, on the other hand, every inhabitant of Vrnjacka Banja spa is familiar with Nada’s destiny. Owing to overwhelming sorrow she faded away day after day and finally died, young and miserable. Upset by Nada’s destiny, girls, wishing to keep their own romances, started writing down their names along with the names of their lovers on padlocks that they bound to the railing of the bridge which used to be the favorite meeting place of Nada and Relja. Afterward the keys were symbolically thrown into the river. New wars and sufferings came up. The story fell into oblivion, and the girl’s custom to “bind” their love became uncustomary. It had been case until Desanka Maksimovic, according to the stories of old residents of Vrnjacka Banja spa, became acquainted with this tragic story. Inspired by it she wrote down one of her most beautiful love poems “A Prayer for Love”, (Molitva za ljubav). Although we tend to forget things, this story remains to be unforgotten, and in order to prolong its existence the young couples kept on with the tradition of “binding” their love and it bridge itself got the name “THE BRIDGE OF LOVE”.”
