Butchers' Bridge

Love padlocks on the Butcher bridge in Ljubljana, Slovenia

Butchers' Bridge (Slovene: Mesarski most) is a footbridge crossing the river Ljubljanica in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. It connects Ljubljana Central Market and the Petkovšek embankment. It is decorated with the works by the Slovenian sculptor Jakov Brdar and completes the plans of the Slovene architect Jože Plečnik from the 1930s. It was officially opened on July 10, 2010.^[1]

The largest sculptures on the bridge represent figures from Ancient Greek and Christian/Jewish mythology^[2]:

• Adam and Eve, shamed and banished from Paradise, after having been induced by the Serpent to taste from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (they are walking towards Saint Nicholas' Cathedral)
• Satyr, startled by the Serpent
• Prometheus, running and disemboweled, in punishment for having given knowledge (of fire) to mankind

There are also some smaller grotesque sculptures of frogs and shellfish on the top of the bridge's fence. Shortly after the opening of the bridge padlocks of couples in love started appearing on its steel wires, symbolizing declarations of eternal love, a phenomenon similar to the one on the Parisian Pont des Arts.

History

The construction of a bridge with the same name, Butchers' Bridge, was planned already in the late 1930s by the architect Jože Plečnik. According to Plečnik's plans, the bridge was to be covered, and was a part of the Ljubljana Central Market. However, due to the outbreak of World War II, the bridge was never built. For more than fifty years, an empty spot in the middle of the Ljubljana Central Market marked the place where the bridge was meant to be built.

In the 1990s, the first proposals of building the bridge and thus completing Plečnik's project of the Ljubljana Market were advanced. Some proposed that the bridge should be built according to original plans, while others suggested that a modern bridge should be built.

In 2009, the city administration under the mayor Zoran Janković launched the construction of the current bridge, which was completed the following year.

References

1. ^ "Butchers' Bridge Completes 100-Year-Old Ljubljana Market Plans". STA. 10 July 2010. http://www.sta.si/en/vest.php?s=a&id=1533013. 
2. ^ http://www.dnevnik.si/tiskane_izdaje/objektiv/1042372767

Coordinates: 46°3′6.34″N 14°30′31.54″E / 46.0517611°N 14.5087611°E / 46.0517611; 14.5087611

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