It’s coming up to Valentine’s Day once again. This means lovers are trying to think of unique ways to treat their loved ones. The romantic holiday is also known as Saint Valentine’s Day and originated as a Christian feast day, honoring a couple of early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine. Meanwhile, the holiday is celebrated on February 14 each year, and rather than celebrating the martyrs, it has gone commercial, with cards, romantic gifts and more. If you have run out of unique ideas of what to do on this holiday for lovers, consider visiting these three, quirky but topical locations.

1. St. Valentine’s Bones – Blessed St. John Duns Scotus, Glasgow, Scotland

Back in 1868, a wealthy French family made a generous donation to the Franciscan church in Glasgow, Scotland. The unusual donation was a small wooden box labeled “Corpus Valentini Martyris,” or “the Body of Saint Valentine.”

After the box was sent to St. Francis’ Church, it sat in almost complete anonymity for more than a century. However, in 1999, it was moved to the Blessed St John Duns Scotus, where it has a place of honor at the church’s entrance. Each year, the relic is decorated with flowers to celebrate the Feast of St. Valentine. Meanwhile, the friars say prayers for lovers.

St. Valentine’s Shoulder Blade, Basilica of St. Peter & St. Paul, Prague, Czechia

It seems likely that the relic in Glasgow didn’t have all the martyr’s bones. In fact, St. Valentine’s shoulder blade is said to be housed in Prague. It was back in 2022 when members of the church were sorting through the basement of the cathedral, they stumbled upon several relics. Meanwhile, one of these relics was labeled as the shoulder blade of the romantic saint.

It is believed that the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV brought the relic to Prague in the 1300s. Nowadays, the famous bone is on permanent display and is celebrated with a mass each February 14th.

St. Valentine’s Skull, Basilica di Santa Maria, Rome, Italy

Next on our Valentine’s Day tour, the Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin in Rome Italy claims to have St. Valentine’s skull. The relic is displayed in a glass reliquary, surrounded by flowers. Meanwhile, lettering across the forehead identifies the skull as belonging to the patron saint of lovers, St. Valentine.

It isn’t clear whether the skull did, indeed, belong to the martyr as there is more than one Catholic saint named St. Valentine. Meanwhile, some 1,500 years have passed between the martyrs, and the Victorian era was known for distributing and labeling bodies. Moreover, while we see three locations that claim to house the saint’s bones, there are around 10 places in the world that have the same claim.

Enjoy a different Valentine’s Day this year, by visiting what could be the romantic martyr’s last remains.