Basilica of St Valentine, Terni, Umbria, Italy. Wikipedia.
My first choice would be to go to Terni in Italy on Valentine's Day to see the church with relics of St Valentine. Where else could I go and what could I see and do?
Answers (Countries listed alphabetically)
CZECH REPUBLIC - LOVE LOCKS
1 Valentine. Church of St Peter and Paul, at Vyesehrad, Prague, Czech Replublic.
2 Lovers add lockets to a pedestrian bridge all year. Expensive lockets are sold by vendors nearby. Despite the high prices, so many lockets are put on the bridge every year, that the lockets are reputedly removed every month to make way for new ones! Where is this bridge? It is a pedestrian bridge, (below the famous Charles bridge leading over the river to the castle - at the castle end), near the John Lennon Wall and the Kafka museum.
Many countries have forbidden affixing locks, because the weight can break section of the bridge, cause rust and ruin the historic or aesthetic appearance. In some places signs warn that those affixing locks will be fined. However in the USA one town encourages locks in a designated place.
FRANCE
Relics are in Roqumaure, Gard, S E France on the Rhone river. This is the wine region of quality (Cote du Rhone is a protected name). When the wines suffered from Phylloxera (introduced by buying American rootstock), relics of St Augustine were bought from an auction of relics on Rome in 1868 in the hope that the relics would bring protection. Apparently, within four years the saint's relics worked. (Funny - in northern Spain's nearby Rioja region I was told that the problem was cured by importing American root stock which was immune to the problem.)
Never mind. As the saying goes: 'Why let the truth get in the way of a good story!'
The acquisition of the relics, and their supposed efficacy is celebrated on the weekend nearest St Valentin'es day by a one day Saturday festival, yes, by a kissing festival! (Read to the end of this post. Then see next post.)
GREECE
Relics of St Valentine on the Island of Lesbos, Greece.
IRELAND
St Valentine in Whitefriar Street, Dublin, Ireland.
St Valentine shrine in Dublin, Ireland. Photo by Blackfish from Wikipedia.
ITALY - RELICS AND CHOCOLATES
1 Valentine in Savona in Luria, N Italy. Savona, near Genoa.
Savona was also where Christopher Columbus farmed and you can see his cottage.
2 Valentine in Rome, flower-bedecked alleged skull displayed in Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome, Italy.
3 St Valentine in Church in Terni, Umbria, Italy.
If you are in Perugia, buy the local chocolates, Baci Perugina, chocolate kisses containing hazelnuts which come with love messages in four languages. Not cheap, but several sizes and styles. The more chocolates you buy, the cheaper they are.
St Valentine's Relic in Rome, Italy. Wikipedia.
POLAND
Fragment of skull in St Mary's Assumption, Chelmno, Poland.
SINGAPORE - COMMERCIAL SUCCESS
This successful, modern skyscraper city, like New York and America, celebrates anything which can be celebrated with cards, flowers, chocolates, gifts and dinners, before, during, the weekends before and after, and on sale the day after.
SPAIN
Remains in St Anton's Church, Madrid, Spain.
UK
England
Chaucer made the story of St Valentine popular.
Shakespeare mentioned the custom of young unmarried girls getting up early hoping that the first man they saw on the day would be the one they would marry.
Relics are in the Reliquary in Birmingham Oratory, England.
Scotland
Remains are in Blessed John Duns Scotus Church, Gorbals area, Glasgow, Scotland
USA: CARDS & LOCKS
Valentine's Day cards simply expressing affectionate love, not necessarily romantic love, can be sent to all sorts of people by all sorts of people. For instance, diy cards are made in schools in arts and crafts lessons for primary school children to send to their teacher and / or their parents. Get everybody addicted to Valentine's Day while they are young. ''The business of America is business,' said an American President.
According to Wikipedia:
People are actually encouraged to leave their locks on chains strung between posts at Lover's Lock Plaza in Lovelock, Nevada.[18] The name of the town is unrelated to the love locks, it was named after a family that settled in the area in the 1860s. The town didn't adopt the practice until much later. In San Angelo, TX, the city has erected a sculpture "Forever Love" inspired by other "love locks" such as (formerly) the bridge in Paris.[19][20]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_lock
AMERICAN JEWS (& ISRAEL)
Do Jews celebrate Valentine's day?
https://reformjudaism.org/practice/ask-rabbi/do-jews-celebrate-valentine’s-day-there-jewish-holiday-similar-valentines-day
This answer from reform Judaism is, as you might expect, in favour of harmony and modernisation.
As the old English saying goes, 'If you can't beat them, join them'.
A more traditional answer brings in a Jewish festival to echo Valentine's day's origins in courting and / or matchmaking on another date, Tu Bav, with a full moon.
https://forward.com/sisterhood/347404/8-quirkiest-facts-about-tu-bav-the-jewish-valentines-day-you-never-heard-of/
Useful Websites For Your Travels
But what did St Valentine look like? Forensic scientists have made a reconstruction, just as they do trying to find the identity of murder victims when remains are found. Right now, it's a novelty, quite a shock to see the reconstructed face of somebody, based on their skull. However, one day it will be commonplace, and no more unusual than looking at an old photo of painting or statue. Meanwhile, here's St Valentine, still influencing as today.
Português: Reconstrução facial forense de São Valentim. Cícero Moraes, José Luís Lira, ABRHAGI, Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Marcos Paulo Salles Machado.
| |
| Date | 26 October 2017 |
| Source | Own work |
| Author | Cicero Moraes |
Author
See my previous posts on Valentine's Day, Umbria, Italian chocolates, and Osteria Modigliani.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.
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