The Lost Bridge (Jesus, church, eternity, bless, Almighty)

[Djamila]

At the far western edge of suburban Sarajevo, along the flood plain of the Bosnia river, there is a small, well-maintained stone trail.

It's a trail that seemingly leads nowhere. It crosses the flood plain and ends at the river's summer bank (in spring, the river is generaly wide enough to cover all the grass you see in the photo above - that's why the bridge in the distance extends so far inland).

This trail, though, is older than the city its in - these are the remains of an ancient Roman Road that travelled from Imunisipia (a Roman city near modern-day Sarajevo) north to what is today Italy. It wasn't preserved as a historic landmark, though - most of that road now lies beneath centuries of human settlement.

It was preserved as a Roman Catholic religious site. Where the road meets the river, there used to be a bridge - you can still see, in the photo above, the river water displaced by the remains of the bridge beneath the surface.

The memorial, as you might imagine, has a symbolic importance. The destruction of that bridge is linked to the fall of Imunisipia to the heretical Bosnian Church, at which time it became known as Hodidjed. It also symbolizes the fall of Hodidjed to the Muslims, at which time it became known as Sarajevo.

Roman Catholics visit the site to lay flowers and pay their respects to those who went before them - but not in the way you might think.

A plaque outside the nearby Water Mill Cafe reads:

Glory be to God Almighty,
And his mercy, Jesus of Nazareth.
Blessed is His hand, which struck down this bridge
So that we might remain on the banks of the Bosnia

It's one of the most unusual memorials I've seen, and it's also one that means a lot to me personally.

[Scuba Pete]

It's amazing how that 2000 year old road looks in better shape than some of the ten year old roads around here.

I love archeology... how I would love to feel those bricks and see haw the road was made. To learn a bit of the people who leveled it and made it look so right.

[astarath]

it is indeed a beautiful sight, amazing how we can all agree when there is a place of importance regardless of our discrepancies of faith

[wizanda]

Wow; thxz now i see why she said Serbia was so beautiful….she lived north of Belgrade in a place called kikinda

[Djamila]

Originally Posted by wizanda

Wow; thxz now i see why she said Serbia was so beautiful….she lived north of Belgrade in a place called kikinda

Oh it is beautiful in Serbia, but the picture above is from Bosnia and it's completely different. There are no mountains in Belgrade and the northern regions of Serbia - while Sarajevo, and most of Bosnia, is in the middle of the Alps.

This is the capital of northern Serbia, Novi Sad. It's a beautiful town, and as you can see - the geography is different.

[wizanda]

I prefer the hills

So why do the Catholics make a point with the flowers, and not as we will think?

[Djamila]

Originally Posted by wizanda

I prefer the hills

So why do the Catholics make a point with the flowers, and not as we will think?

Well, many of these memorials (from all faiths) have the tone of "Oh God, our horrible history. We did nothing but suffer for all eternity. Oh God, oh God. This is where everything went wrong. They destroyed this, and now we have to live without it!"

But this one has the tone of, "Well thank God that bridge is gone so we didn't flee like the rest of them and move to Italy, because we rock here."

[Scuba Pete]

I agree... they seemed rather grateful to be staying. Way cool.