The Feast of St. Valentine’ Day—or La festa di San Valentino, as it’s called in Italian—has its origin in the Roman Empire. It’s believed that Saint Valentine was a third century Roman who was martyred and buried in Rome on February 14.

As Italian is commonly known as the language of love,

Buon San Valentino!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Listen to Italian singer Massimo Ranieri’s “Rose rosse per te”

(Red Roses for You):