Voices Newspaper Altinkum Didim Turkey - Thank you Saint Valentine!

The Valentines Day on the 14th of February will be celebrated next Tuesday. Various bars and restaurants in Didim are holding events to make this day special for lovers. Our columnist Laura and her husband Hakan are also organising a night on their boat for those who would like to spend this occasion on the sea. Where, then, does this Valentines Day originate from? We did some research for you.

The legend related to the Valentines Day is: When the Roman Empire was fighting in many fronts, Emperor Claudius II had trouble finding soldiers for his armies. According to the Emperor, known for his brutality, the main reason was that the Roman men did not want to leave their wives. Thus, Claudius suspended all marriage procedures for an unlimited period. The suspension of marriages resulted in an increase in cohabiters and since Priest Valentine strongly believed that adultery was a great sin he violated Claudius’s new law and started to marry the couples secretly.

It did not take long for Claudius to find out about this and Valentine was imprisoned. Valentine’s gaoler was sorry for him and he entrusted his daughter with bringing meals to Valetine so that the priest would not have to eat prison food.

Priest Valentine, whilst talking with his beautiful visitor three times a day, fell in love with her. The girl was very beautiful but she was blind. She fell in love with Valentine’s voice.

On execution day Valentine ate his last meal and chatted with the beautiful girl for the last time. And he started to wait for his execution.

In the last moments of his life, he asked for pen and paper from the gaoler. He wrote a note on the paper and said to the gaoler, “Please give this note to your daughter.” Valentine was stoned for many hours after which he was executed. The girl received the note only after Valentine’s death. The note read, “From your Valentine”.

The blind girl looked at the note and she could see. Yet she never had the chance to see Valentine’s face. 226 years after this event, in 496 Pope Galaius named 14th of February the Saint Valentine’s Day in honour of the Saint Valentine.

This day afterwards lost its religious significance and started being celebrated as the day of love rather than Saint Valentine.

We hope you have somebody that you really love with you on Valentine’s Day and we hope you are loved in return.