Dozens of couples made declarations of love at a microphone set up in the square of the Triumphal Arch in Chisinau on February 24. The couples also took pictures in the Love Swing, celebrating thus the Romanian Valentine's Day Dragobete. While Valentine’s Day is mostly related to people (a saint and those he helped) and their actions in the name of love, the Romanian holiday dedicated to love, Dragobete, is strongly connected to nature. Celebrated on February 24, it is linked to that special time of year when birds build their nests and mate. Dragobete, also named Dragomir, is the local counterpart of Roman god Cupid and Greek god Eros. “In the past, on this day they organized bees where the young people could find a partner,” Valentina Samoilenko, senior lecturer at the Faculty of History and Ethnopedagogy of the Teacher Training University “Ion Creanga”, has told Info-Prim Neo. “Dragobete is an old holiday that we observe with pleasure,” said a student who came together with her boyfriend to the Triumphal Arch. “This is a nice holiday of Roman origin and we should continue the tradition,” said Ion Bargan, one of the organizers of the event, vice chairman of the Youth Organization of the Liberal Party. Contests between a number of high schools, performances of music and musical evenings were also held in Chisinau to mark Dragobete.