2015 Lock Love: A Tour of the World’s Top Ten Love Lock Bridges

By / MOOK Travel Life Network Editorial Team

The new year begins amidst dazzling fireworks. Along with hopes for work, friendship, and family, there's an even stronger longing for the arrival of a meaningful relationship. We all hope to find that sweetest, most wonderful partner to accompany us through life, embracing each other tightly, locking our bond with a love lock at the most beautiful moment in our relationship, never to be apart. This has given rise to numerous love lock bridges that decorate the world’s landscapes and write romantic love stories.

● Paris
Since 2008 in France, it is unclear who started it, but people began hanging padlocks engraved with their names on both sides of the Pont des Arts bridge and throwing the keys into the river, praying for eternal love. It later became a must-do for tourists from around the world visiting the spot, and the bridge gradually earned the nickname “Love Bridge.” As time passed, the Seine River witnessed countless sweet romances, but the bridges over the Seine also suffered under the weight of so many ‘locks.’ Recently, the city of Paris launched an initiative to ‘save’ this century-old bridge by starting to remove the ‘love locks.’
※[Updated] 2015.10.15  

Starting June 1, 2015, to ensure the safety of historic monuments and pedestrians, the city of Paris completely removed the padlocks symbolizing eternal love from the Love Lock Bridge. From then on, this romantic bridge can only be seen in past photos and movies.

 

● Italy

It is said that the tradition of love locks originated from an Italian novel published in 2006 called "Love is So Childish." In the book, lovers hung a “love lock” on the lamppost of Rome’s Ponte Milvio (Old Bridge) and threw the key into the river, praying to be together forever.

● Guam’s Two Lovers Point The origin of the love locks at Guam’s Two Lovers Point began with a tragic story. A couple, forbidden to be together by their families, chose to end their lives by jumping off a cliff, which led to the naming of the site as Two Lovers Point. This legend is inscribed on a stone tablet at the point in multiple languages. Under the witness of the vast ocean, many couples have hung locks here.