The Stone Bridge is finally getting lighting. Good news - right up until you read how we got here. For years, parts of the bridge had nothing on them but cables, because the lamps had been stolen. The symbol that sits on the city's coat of arms simply disappeared into the dark every evening.

Work on architectural and decorative lighting has now begun. The bridge is closed to pedestrians while the intervention lasts, which means one of the busiest pedestrian links in the central city area - the one between the main square and the Old Bazaar - is temporarily out of service.

What is being promised

The city says the new lighting will be aligned with the architectural characteristics of the structure and will not change its appearance or authenticity. The stone arches and the historical value of the bridge are meant to be highlighted in the city's evening panorama.

Mayor Orce Ǵorǵievski announced the start of the works, and the project stems from a cooperation protocol signed recently with the municipality of Esenler in Turkey. "Our symbols carry the story of who we are. We must protect them, care for them and pass them on to future generations with dignity", was the message from the city.

The missing sentence

With all that rhetoric about dignity and future generations, nobody said the simpler thing: the bridge was dark for years because nobody replaced the stolen lamps. That is not a question of symbolism but of maintenance - a job that requires no protocol with a foreign municipality, just one line in the budget and somebody to sign it.

When the project is finished, the Stone Bridge will shine. That is good and nobody will object. But the story of how the city's most recognisable symbol ended up without light, and then got it back thanks to cooperation with another municipality - that story is still worth remembering.