Ljubavi, also known as the Bridge of Love, is a pedestrian bridge located in Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia. It is believed to be the origin of the love padlocks tradition, where couples leave padlocks on the bridge railing as a symbol of their devotion to one another. It is one of the most famous landmarks of the town, and is the most recognized of the fifteen bridges in Vrnjačka Banja.
The legend of the bridge dates back nearly 100 years, when a local schoolmistress named Nada fell in love with a Serbian officer named Relja. Yet, Relja was sent to war in Greece and fell for a woman from Corfu, and this caused Nada and Relja to break off their engagement. Nada never recovered from the heartbreak and eventually died from her grief. To protect their own relationships, young girls from Vrnjačka Banja began writing their names and the names of their loved ones on padlocks, tying them to the railings of the bridge where Nada and Relja had once met. The tradition eventually died out, until the Serbian poet Desanka Maksimović wrote a poem called “A Prayer for Love”, which caused the legend to regain popularity. People once again began to bind their love with padlocks to the bridge, and thus it gained the name “Bridge of Love”. It is customary for couples to throw the keys of their padlocks into the river below, so that they can never be unlocked.
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