Dreaming of having an amazing experience in Rome? Fall in love with the stunning capital of Italy like so many others have done! Have you heard about Federico Moccia’s popular book and movie “I Want You”? (“Tengo ganas de ti” in its translation in Spanish). It’s an amazing story set in Rome which… turned into reality! Have you wondered why couples put love padlocks in bridges and other sights in the most important cities of the world? Well here’s why!
In the novel “I Want You”, which is a sequel to the book “Three steps above heaven”, the main characters seal their love by locking a padlock to a lamppost of the Milvian Bridge (Ponte Milvio in Italian), in Rome, and then throw the key behind them into the River Tiber, representing that their love is going to last forever.
Truth is that because of Federico Moccia’s idea, the bridge began attracting couples in the 2000s. This action became a ritual for the ones who visited Rome and more and more couples locked padlocks in the lamppost of the Milvian Bridge! After 2007, they had to stop this habit because the lamppost, due to the weight of all padlocks, partially collapsed.
However, couples decided to attach their padlocks elsewhere, literally all around the bridge: road posts and even garbage bins were used to place these love padlocks! Because of the success and the tourist claim, from July 2007 it was possible to attach padlocks again thanks to steel columns put by the mayor of the city.
Unfortunately in 2012 the authorities decided to remove all padlocks of the old Milvian Bridge because there was an increasing risk that the bridge would collapse under the weight. But similar love padlocks have appeared in other places of Italy and Europe and it’s easy to find these spots when travelling around the country and the continent. Here are other cities worldwide which exported this ritual: Paris, New York, Las Vegas, Florence, Venice, Prague, Dublin and Moscow; it also can be found in countries like Germany, Australia, China, Slovenia, Serbia, Canada and many more!
Live your very own experience in Italy and travel around Europe while studying for your bachelor’s degree at John Cabot University, in the heart of Rome! Join our online informative session by filling the form below and lock your very own padlock![wufoo username=”web2present” formhash=”p1ygrq5g1f55mi1″ autoresize=”true” height=”582″ header=”show” ssl=”true”]
