St. Mark's Day also known as the rosebud festival (Venetian

Venetian language

Venetian or Venetan is a Romance language spoken as a native language by over two million people, mostly in the Veneto region of Italy, where of five million inhabitants almost all can understand it. It is sometimes spoken and often well understood outside Veneto, in Trentino, Friuli, Venezia...

: festa del bocolo), is a festival in Venice

Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...

 held on 25 April celebrating Venice's patron saint, St. Mark. On this day, men traditionally give a single rosebud

Rosebud

A rosebud is the bud of a rose flower. The word may refer to:-Arts:* A plot device in the film Citizen Kane* "Rosebud" , an episode of the television comedy The Simpsons, parodying Citizen Kane...

to the woman they love.

Legend

According to legend, the tradition originated in the 8th century, when a man of low social standing is said to have fallen in love with a noblewoman from Venice. In order to win her father's approval, he became involved in a distant war. He was mortally wounded in battle, but managed to pluck a rose from a nearby rosebush for his loved one. A companion was entrusted with returning the blood-stained rose to his lover.