Valentine’s Day in Rome

When Federico Moccia published his acclaimed novel I Want You (Ho voglia di) in 2006, the reigns of the tradition of legendary bridge Milvio were handed over. After holding the weight of a quaint 2000 year old history, there arrived a new Roman ritual that spread like wildfire to cities all around the world, proving that bad taste knows no barriers. On Valentines Day, lovers place a padlock engraved with their initials around a streetlamp on the bridge, and passionately throw the keys into the river.

The poor Milvio bridge, where it all started, has not only had to endure this humiliation, but, (and it seems unbelievable that this could happen in Italy of all places) its aesthetic harmony was further insulted when the mayor of Rome ordered that new steel columns be placed on the bridge, so that Moccia’s fans could continue their rites hitch-free. It seems incredible to me that the digital, Facebook generation might not see reasoning behind only being allowed to carry out this padlock ritual online, virtually.

In spite of all this, Rome remains an ideal city in which to spend Valentines Day. Love is true, so the theory goes, if we see the name in the mirror – but, according to the ancient tradition, it must remain a secret. Revealing the name was once forbidden with the penalty of death, when in 82 BC poet and tribune Valerio Sorano was crucified for the monstrous crime of uttering the name in public and bringing a series of catastrophes upon the city. Though known that this phenomenon occurred with true love – the secret name revealed to who sought it – the question of the name itself remained steeped in controversy. The professor Ballester, trusting the authority of Solino, suggested that it might have been Valentia – an idea that Albert Hanover met with loud disagreement. Curiously enough, St. Valentine, the patron saint of lovers who advocated marriage at a time when the emperor Claudio III held the view that single men made better soldiers, was, according to the legend of Áurea, executed on the 14^th of February – the month that birds mate according to the Celtic and Nordic tradition.

 

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Paul Oilzum

If you rent apartments in Rome on this date, remember that love is a four letter word.

Translated by: Poppy