In the neighborhood Porta Genova, the most artistic side of the city, during the Middle Ages, a network of canals called Navigli was made. Nowadays, it’s still an iconic place in the city and a must-see one. However, when you stroll along the network of canals, you should pay attention to the little bridges and, above all, to one of them, Ponte Alda Merini.

This beautiful bridge, where the lovers stick the locks on the grid with the initials of their names, was named in memory of one of the most important poets of Milano of the 1900s, who lived just in front of it. Her house, which nowadays is a foundation named after her, is just next to it. Alda Merini was one of the most interesting people in the city and was always there wandering around Navigli, so anybody could go to see and meet her in that district.

She wrote poems about love, life and mental illnesses. In fact, for some mental problems she had been diagnosed with, she passed through the Italian system of madhouses where people were treated with electroshock, which luckily was closed a couple of decades ago. After that experience, she became, with her poems, the European poetical voice of the marginalised people. So, while you take a spritz in a bar around there, take a look at this bridge!