"Of everything that man erects and builds in his urge for living nothing is in my eyes better and more valuable than bridges. They are more important than houses, more sacred than shrines. Belonging to everyone and being equal to everyone, useful, always built with a sense, on the spot where most human needs are crossing, they are more durable than other buildings and they do not serve for anything secret or bad"

Ivo Andrić, Yugoslavian writer and the winner of the Nobel Price for Literature in 1961

Even the word bridge has an extraordinary meaning. The bridges bridge, connect- both literary and figuratively. They join, link, reach across, unite, cross, cross over, extend across, overcome, reconcile. 

The bridge may be concrete or abstract, real or virtual, it may refer to people, areas, cultures, arts, traditions, worlds, periods in history, life and death, happiness and sorrow, reality and dreams, legends and facts.

Each bridge, just as man himself, has its own story. Its beginning and its end. Its own destiny. Unique, special, mysterious, authentic... That is how this story is written. And that is how it should be read. 

So, therefore, this story is a bridge! The bridge between our past and future, between our ancestors and descendants, between who we were and who we will be, between history and mythology, facts and legends.... This story is a bridge between our reality and our dreams, our life and our death, mortality and immortality.

This story is a bridge....

"Of everything that man erects and builds in his urge for living nothing is in my eyes better and more valuable than bridges. They are more important than houses, more sacred than shrines. Belonging to everyone and being equal to everyone, useful, always built with a sense, on the spot where most human needs are crossing, they are more durable than other buildings and they do not serve for anything secret or bad"

Ivo Andrić, Yugoslavian writer and the winner of the Nobel Price for Literature in 1961

Even the word bridge has an extraordinary meaning. The bridges bridge, connect- both literary and figuratively. They join, link, reach across, unite, cross, cross over, extend across, overcome, reconcile. 

The bridge may be concrete or abstract, real or virtual, it may refer to people, areas, cultures, arts, traditions, worlds, periods in history, life and death, happiness and sorrow, reality and dreams, legends and facts.

Each bridge, just as man himself, has its own story. Its beginning and its end. Its own destiny. Unique, special, mysterious, authentic... That is how this story is written. And that is how it should be read. 

So, therefore, this story is a bridge! The bridge between our past and future, between our ancestors and descendants, between who we were and who we will be, between history and mythology, facts and legends.... This story is a bridge between our reality and our dreams, our life and our death, mortality and immortality.

This story is a bridge....

The symbolic of bridge is deep and complex as the meaning of the word itself. It may represent the connection between two different worlds, between the Earth and the Sky, Paradise and Heaven, life and death, body and soul. It may be a symbol of duration and immortality, symbol of peace, harmony, understanding… Symbol of love and life.That’s why the bridges represent the endless source of inspiration for many writers, poets, painters, composers, sculptors and many other artists.

The history of bridges is so old that it is difficult to trace it back in time. Each bridge has its own stories: some of them were built only to connect two sides of river, the others were built not only to connect shores, but to connect people as well. Some were constructed in order to bridge cultures and traditions, while some were designed and built in order to reach immortality.

Although they were constructed from different reasons, the motivation for their construction was the same. It is the gap. Not only in physical, but in emotional sense as well. The gap that should be filled and bridged by man’s imaginations, dreams, hopes, efforts, courage…

Today, there are many spectacular examples of bridges all around the world that attract people’s attention from different reasons because of fascinating works of art and impressive feats of engineering, beautiful landscapes, unforgettable experience, mysterious stories from past…

Although only few of the bridges are actually recognized as cultural goods, the fact is that Montenegro is full of beautiful bridges that have a huge potential for tourist valorization. Some of them are famous because of their architecture, some because of legends and fairytales connected with their construction, some of them have huge importance from historical or cultural point of view, while some are interesting because of picturesque idyllic sceneries of their surroundings.

Bridges… So silent, but still tell us beautiful stories. So strong, but still so vulnerable. So real, but still so imaginary. Built by human.In favor of human.

This story is a monument to bridges. Written for  the Montenegrin bridges. For the old and the new ones. For these built in past and those that will be built in future. For those almost destroyed and those restored. For all their designers and constructors. In order not to be forgotten. At least on the pages of this story.

Anđela Jakšić-Stojanović & Neven Šerić

Heritage is more than just a collection of tangible, intangible, natural etc. elements in certain area.  It actually represents a cultural identity of the nation, its history and tradition, its past and future, its ancestors and descendants … 

The bridges in Montenegro were built in different historical and cultural periods of Montenegrin history and their construction and reconstruction was influenced by different architectural and artistic styles, but that is precisely there beauty and uniqueness. 

That is because of the fact that the heritage goes significantly beyond the national. It is actually a point where different cultures, civilisations, traditions intersect and coexist in harmony, giving thus the example to people that differences are what makes us special and that is in these differences  that lies on our beauty and uniqueness. 

Because of that, the adequate preservation, protection, valorisation and promotion of heritage should be our obligation for our ancestors and our descendants, for our past and our future in the same time. 

This story tends to present our heritage not as a point that separates us, but as a point that united us, thus promoting the key European values.