The Trnovo Bridge ( sl, Trnovski most) is a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

crossing the

Gradaščica The Gradaščica is a river in Slovenia. The river is long. It begins in Polhov Gradec at the confluence of Little Creek ( sl, Mala Voda) and Big Božna Creek. Near Vrhovci it is joined by Horjulščica Creek (also known as Horjulka Creek). Not f ...

River in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

, the capital of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. It is located in front of

Trnovo Church Trnovo may refer to the following places: Bosnia and Herzegovina * Trnovo, Republika Srpska, a town and municipality * Trnovo, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the rural part of the same pre-war municipality, presently in the Sarajevo Canto ...

at the end of Karun Street () to the south of the city centre and is a continuation of Emona Street (). It connects the neighborhoods of Krakovo and Trnovo, the oldest Ljubljana suburbs, known for their market gardens and cultural events. A bridge has stood on the site since the late 17th century. The modern bridge was built between 1928 and 1932 by the constructor

Matko Curk Matko is a Croatian given name and surname that may refer to: ;Given name * Matko Babić (born 1998), Croatian football player * Matko Djarmati (born 1982), Croatian football player * Matko Jelavić (born 1958), Croatian singer, songwriter, compos ...

upon the plans of the architect

Jože Plečnik Jože Plečnik () (23 January 1872 – 7 January 1957) was a Slovene architect who had a major impact on the modern architecture of Vienna, Prague and of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, most notably by designing the iconic Triple Bridge and ...

. It is distinguished by its width and the trees that it bears. It is the most prominent object of Plečnik's renovation of the banks of the Gradaščica.

Architecture

The iron-concrete bridge, designed as a public space, has a roughly square platform with a width of . It is supported from below by a stone arch. Each of its corners is capped with a small pyramid, a signature motif of Plečnik's, designed in the same way as the spires of the church. The mid-span features a pair of

Art-Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the United ...

male sculptures. The bridge is among the rare with live trees. Two rows of

birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...

es divide the pedestrian and vehicle lanes, intentionally obscuring the bridge silhouette. They are complemented by a balustrade of vase-like elements and a row of short columns at each side. There is also a statue of

Saint John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

, the patron of the church, at the center of the bridge. It was designed by Nikolaj Pirnat. On the opposite side stands a slender

obelisk An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...

with a lamp. It has been dedicated to

Sigmund Zois Sigmund Zois Freiherr von Edelstein, usually referred as Sigmund Zois ( sl, Žiga Zois, formerly Slovenized as ''Cojs'' or ''Cojz''; ) (23 November 1747 – 10 November 1819) was a Carniolan nobleman, natural scientist and patron of the arts. He ...

, a naturalist and patron of science and arts. On the Krakovo side, a stone tablet with the inscription ''KRAKOVU'' 'to Krakovo' is mounted on the face of the bridge. On the Trnovo side, there is a stone tablet that reads ''TRNOVU'' 'to Trnovo'.

References

External links

*
Bridges in Ljubljana Bridges completed in 1932 Jože Plečnik buildings Bridges over the Gradaščica Arch bridges in Slovenia {{Slovenia-bridge-struct-stub