One of my favorite spots, maybe because it’s so well known and yet almost no one knows its history, could be Branko’s bridge, or to be more precise the bridge that stood there before it, of which the foundations and pylons still stand. It’s the King Aleksandar I bridge built in 1934.

It was in function for only 7 years before it was destroyed in WW2. It’s such a contrast between the current bridge and the pylons on which it stands. The parallels are obvious once you hear the story. The bridge, named after a King, built in Serbo-Byzantine style and the Communists coming afterwards, not wanting to have anything to do with the monarchy, building a bridge as a continuous steel box girder, which actually consists of two separate constructions in each direction (one built 22 years later than the first one). The pylons are beautiful with all of its details and the current bridge, with frequent traffic congestions, has a name that no one is sure where it came from. Is it either named after Branko for the street that the bridge leads to or after Branko (another poet) who jumped off the bridge committing suicide. The first option seems more likely.

One thing is for sure, the intended name (Brotherhood and unity bridge) never caught on and the bridge that stood there before is long forgotten.