Lake Como, Italy has all the ingredients to make for the perfect holiday.

The Bishop of Interamna is most widely accepted as the basis of the modern saint.  He was an early Christian martyr who lived in northern Italy in the thid century and was put to death on 14 February around 270AD on the orders of emperor Claudius of the Second for flouting the ban on Christianity.

the date of his death is thought to have become linked with romance because it sees the forst oneset of spring and is said to be when birds select their mates.

However, the Scottish claims to his mortal remains do not find favour across the Irish Sea where the remains of St Valentine are said to repose in a casket held at Whitefriar Street Church in Dublin.

The Irish say they were passed on as a gift from Pope Gregory XVI to the respected Dublin Carmelite Father John Spratt.

While there is no way of telling whether the Scottish or Irish bones are the real remains of St. Valentine, the Scottish monks hope the confusion will not detract from the true message of the saint's day - that martrydom is the highest form of love.