All around the world, lovers hook little
locks on bridges to symbolise their eternal love. The origin of this tradition
is obscure.... the Italians claim it was sparked by a romantic novel titled “I Want
You”, by Federico Moccia, in which the hero and heroine attach a padlock with
their name onto a lamppost on Ponte Milvio, near Rome, kiss and throw the key
in the river Tiber. Others believe this is a much older tradition, which started
in Moscow.
This weekend in Paris, I came
across one such bridge…Pont de l'Archevêché near Notre-Dame Cathedral,
absolutely crammed with little padlocks. Apparently, lovers often throw the key
into the river Seine as a sign of undying love, or keep it and open the padlock
when they next return to the French capital.
Not everyone approves of the tradition though…declaring the rusty locks an “eyesore”, a type of vandalism. Paris'
town hall recently said that the locks "pose a question about the
preserving of heritage" and that "in time these padlocks will be
removed". However, it promised only to do so when it had found an
alternative home for them, such as installing metal trees to hang them on.
So what do you think of the
lovers’ locks… a romantic gesture or a rusty eyesore?
I think it is absolutely beautiful . . . but I also love movies like "Moonstruck" and "Under the Tuscan Sun" and "Say Anything", so I am a helpless romantic. But, I think the locks are a beautiful symbol of love, and it warms my heart to see it. Thanks for sharing, love!
ReplyDeleteDear Nat - I was so pleased to read this. We visited Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia 10 months ago, and saw the same thing on the bridge over the river there. We had no idea what it was all about, so thank you very much for the information.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of that little tradition and I
ReplyDeletedon't think I saw the padlocks there on my last visit to Paris ( 2001 )
Interesting post Nat.
I would have to say "rusty eye sore"....however I find the idea to be sweet, but I wonder how many of those lovers' locks have been broken? :>) Maybe people would be to embarrased to cut their lock off?
ReplyDeleteI'm torn - they do look an ugly eyesore but I love the romantic idea. Metal trees sound good to me, leaving the bridge as somewhere nice to lean and gaze into the river.
ReplyDeleteI think it's an eye sore. I like the idea, but honestly it doesn't look good.
ReplyDeleteI think it's beautiful. I mean...they're ugly...but sometimes ugly is pretty. Funnily enough, this is the second blog this morning where I read about the European traidition of putting locks on bridges!
ReplyDeleteBlimey I didn't realise there were so many of them, I'm 100% romantic too, but I don't know how many more can squeeze on there and then where next, let's face it Paris is the City of lovers so there will be many, many more. Great post Nat!
ReplyDeletelooka wird
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of this fascinating tradition. I am glad to learn about it. I just love things like this.
ReplyDeleteThis is cool! I'm also a bit torn - I love the idea but it is a bit of an eyesore. Having said that, I think I'd have to see it in person before giving it a real vote.
ReplyDeleteIt was fascinating to read your post about this. I have similar photos from Moscow. I wonder when this tradition got started.
ReplyDeleteI think it is AWESOME and a great photo op!
ReplyDeleteThanks for great photos!
This is so sweet and I would totally put a pink pad lock on that fence.
ReplyDelete