The Dragon Bridge is a symbol of Ljubljana! The Dragon Bridge, according to the legend, tells about a fight of Greek mythical heroes and a monster Ljubljana dragon from the lake. You can see the symbol of the dragon today on the coat of arms and the flag of the city, and it is certain that you will also buy some dragon-shaped souvenir.
The first reinforced concrete bridge in Ljubljana is the Dragon Bridge and it was the largest bridge in Europe in the period of construction from 1900 and 1907. There was a wooden Butcher's Bridge from 1819 on this place before the construction of the Dragon Bridge. It was damaged in the earthquake in 1985 and was replaced by today's bridge.
Decorated with green statues of dragons, the bridge is a very popular tourist attraction in Ljubljana and a frequent place for photography. The statues themselves seem so vivid, a little creepy we can say, as if they are real. The bridge is unique in its appearance, attractive and lures the attention of many visitors. It was named the Jubilee Bridge of Franz Joseph I during the opening of the bridge. The project of the bridge was made by prof. Josef Melan, famous designer of reinforced concrete bridges and theorist of statistics for large suspension bridges. Dalmatian architect Jurij Zaninović, whose teacher was the Viennese architect Otto Wagner, with whom Jože Plečnik began his creative path, gave the Art Nouveau look to the bridge. Some original plan was to place statues of winged lions on the bridge. That idea changed over time, and Jurij added copper dragons on the bridge.
Author of the article:
Bojana Pantić - our correspondent for the city of Ljubljana
