Monuments To Love Around the World

Since the 1980s, this wall in Prague has been covered in both John Lennon and The Beatles imagery and lyrics. A large mural of the man himself was covered by messages of peace and love over a number of years. The wall became a constantly changing canvas for visitors from around the world to lend their artistic expression. In 2014, the wall was painted completely white by art students, leaving just the message "Wall is Over" in tribute to one of Lennon’s most famous works. But true love prevailed and the wall was once again plastered in bold paintings and inspiring messages in just a couple of days.

In 2006, Federico Moccia released his teen romance novel "I Want You." The story featured a young couple fastening a padlock to Milvian Bridge in Rome to symbolise their eternal love. It spawned a new generation of romantic book lovers keen to copy the sentiment and has caused bridges worldwide to be weighed down with padlocks. Lock sellers now line bridges in Italy, France and Spain so you don’t even have to remember to bring your own lock!

Be sensible though, as these the practice is not admired by all local authorities. It’s important to check if locks are allowed or you might face a night contending with a whole different kind of lock.

Designed by two artists as a monument to love and lasting adoration, the Wall of Love in Montmartre displays the words "I love you" over 1,000 times in 300 languages. Created as a place for couples to travel to and reflect on love, the impressive art installation covers 612 tiles made of enamelled lava. The fragments of red colour scattered through the work are said to represent a broken heart that the piece is trying to bring back together. Aww.

Coin, or wish, trees are rumoured to date back to a time when — as local lore would have it — young men would try to hammer a nail into a hawthorn in a single blow. If successful, the plucky love-struck youth would be assured of a kiss from his sweetheart. Now, coin trees are popping up in random locations all over the place. Fallen tree trunks are being found lying around with thousands of coins embedded in their bark.

What started out as a bit of inadvertent littering has turned a wall near Seattle’s Pike Place Market into a tourist attraction. Visitors to the bubblegum strewn building leave their chewed offerings in a wild variety of colours, shapes and sizes, sometimes even adding to the fun with personalised notes and nick-nacks. Although the gum was cleared twice in the '90s, officials now leave the gum alone and recognise the structure as a tourist hotspot. Lovers have even held weddings in front of the wall, believing that their love — like the gum — can stick together through anything. Gross, but in a really good way.

Each year, a 14th century house in the middle of Verona attracts thousands upon thousands of visitors, all thanks to some bloke called William Shakespeare. The balcony, located in Casa di Giulietta, is believed to have belonged to the Capulet family in the famous — and very fictional — tragic-romance, Romeo and Juliet. The balcony, upon which Juliet is rumoured to have called out for her forbidden lover, overlooks a small courtyard in which star-crossed tourists leave behind tokens, graffiti and handwritten notes in the hopes that their love will flourish. Wherefore art thou?