Via dell'Amore is a nice little walk along the Mediterranean Sea from the towns of Riomaggiore and Manarola in the Cinque Terre. The story goes that the trail was built between the two towns as the railway was being built in the region, and it became a place for young lovers to meet to get away from the watching eyes of the townspeople. Now it is an enjoyable walkway along the sea, with benches to sit and enjoy the view.
The pathway is lined with love graffiti and covered with locks on every possible surface, including this little nook celebrating the famous walkway. The locks seem to be a tradition in Italy - near any body of water you will find locks hooked to bridge railings with little messages symbolizing the love of a couple. We first noticed this in Florence and have seen it many places in our travels, but no where are there more locks than along Via dell'Amore. They even sell locks if you want to participate in the tradition.
I was tempted to buy a lock for a keepsake but managed to resist and just capture a few images instead. I'm curious though - is the lock tradition something that is only found in Italy or does it happen in other parts of Europe? What are the traditions to celebrate young love in your country?
What a lovely custom. We have nothing like this in the UK (at least, nothing that I've ever heard of).
ReplyDeleteThey do it here in Germany as well!
ReplyDeleteHere in The Netherlands I haven't seen it either. Lovely tradition though!
ReplyDeleteI would die to go and see this! seriously! :))
ReplyDeletethis looks absolutely wonderful. I don't know of any custom here either, used to be flowers that were significant but not now.
ReplyDeleteWe first saw the locks when we visited Estonia. They said it was a Russian tradition. A few months ago I saw some locks on a fence in San Francisco. The tradition is spreading, I think. Such a sweet photo!
ReplyDeleteHow did I miss those lock when we were there? It was a crazy trip. I'd love to go back.
ReplyDeleteOh, how I would love to see this! We do not have any such tradition here in the U.S., but sure wish we did. Something very old world and beautiful about it.
ReplyDeleteVery very cool. Thanks for sharing that - I just love having friends around the world. What a great learning experience!!
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