Valentine's Day - the day when love is celebrated

Everything we know today about Valentine’s Day actually came from tradition and data which are just legends passed down for hundreds of years from generation to generation for which there is no evidence. What we can actually claim with certainty is just that a priest named Valentine was killed on February 14. We bring you 15 interesting and certainly surprising facts that we associate with St. Valentine:

1. Every year about a billion greeting cards are sent for Valentine's Day and a little more is sent only for Christmas. In Verona, the hometown of Romeo and Juliet, about a thousand love letters arrive for Julia each year. In America, as many as 15 % of Valentine’s Day greetings are sent by girls to themselves. For now, the oldest known Valentine's Day greeting card dates from 1415 and was sent by the Duke of Orleans to his French wife when he was imprisoned in the Tower of London dungeon.
2. Valentine's Day is, in addition to Mother's Day, the day when most flowers are bought. Every year, girls and women around the world get about 50 million roses together on Valentine’s Day. More than 189 million roses are sold in the U.S. for Valentine’s Day.
3. On Valentine's Day, 220,000 proposals "fall" each year
4. In the U.S., billions of dollars worth of chocolate is sold. Richard Cadbury made the first box of chocolates for Valentine's Day in the late 19th century, and more than 25 million heart-shaped chocolates are sold on Valentine's Day.
5. The most magnificent love gift on earth and of all time is - the Taj Mahal in India. It was built by the ruler Shahjahan in memory of his deceased wife who died in childbirth. He stands as a symbol of eternal love. The construction of the Taj Mahala began in 1634 and lasted for almost 22 years, and a total of 20,000 people from all over India worked on the construction of this magnificent building.
6. Almost 3% of pet owners donate their dogs, cats, rabbits, canaries for Valentine's Day.
7. Singles Day is celebrated the day after Valentine’s Day, and is conceived as an alternative to Valentine’s Day, and provides an opportunity for singles to celebrate their solo status or to empathize with others.
8. In Finland, Friends' Day is celebrated instead of Valentine's Day
9. X, which is used in modern times as a symbol for a kiss, has its origins in the Middle Ages. People who couldn’t write signed with X and then kissed the letter. By doing so, they confirmed their sincerity, that is, that they stand behind what they signed.
10. Girls in the Middle Ages ate bizarre dishes to dream of a future husband.
11. During the 19th century, doctors unhappily advised lovers to eat chocolate to alleviate grief.
12. The oldest love song is inscribed on a clay tablet and dates from the Sumerian era, ie from the period of about 3,500 BC. Kr.
13. Once upon a time, people believed that if a woman saw a robin on a flight on Valentine's Day, she would soon marry a sailor. If she sees a sparrow, she will marry an orphan and be very happy. But if she sees a goldfinch, it means she will marry a millionaire. Kos means priest, rabac meant farmer, thrush a very happy man, and pigeon meant to marry a good man. If the girl saw the woodpecker first, it meant she would never marry.
14. In Germany, girls plant onions on Valentine's Day, and put the boy's name next to each one. This custom stems from the belief that she will marry the young man whose name is next to the bow that first sprouted.
15. The CRIPPS PINK apple variety is a Valentine's apple, which is given as a gift on Valentine's Day.

Check out the photo corner on the theme of celebrating Valentine's Day at the Music Pavilion on Dr. Franjo Tuđman Promenade in Karlovac.