89 Items Tagged

Love

Lovers of Modena

Archeologists can't decide if these two hand-holding skeletons were brothers or lovers.

Baku, Azerbaijan

'Monument to Lovers and Cats'

Look up as you explore Baku’s old town to find a monument to the local feline population.

13 Places for a Smooch

Spots and statues that celebrate kissing.

Roxanne Hoorn February 14, 2025

Peacock spiders love to show off their colorful butts.

Animal Courtships: Our Favorite Reads

Fish with bumping bass, disco-dancing spiders, and other extreme ways animals attract a mate.

Roxanne Hoorn February 14, 2025

Darłowo, Poland

King Eric's Golden Dove

This statue is said to bring good luck to visiting lovebirds.

An Elvis impersonator officiates a wedding at Graceland Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.

How Elvis Became the King of Las Vegas Weddings

Overcoming threats to cease-and-desist, Las Vegas’s iconic Elvis weddings live on.

Shoshi Parks July 17, 2024

Kouklia, Cyprus

Aphrodite's Rock

This sea stack in Cyprus is traditionally seen as the birthplace of the goddess Aphrodite.

Sonnets still have a reputation for being about the unrequited love of a man for a woman.

The Most Romantic Poems of the Renaissance Weren't Always for Lovers

Declaring your love in a sonnet was not a couples-only endeavor.

Shannon McHugh February 12, 2024

Pilt Carin Ersdotter Statue

A sculpture of a woman so beautiful she got arrested for it.

A popular tourist destination since becoming a filming location for Game of Thrones, The Dark Hedges is a road enveloped by beech trees in County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

Wonder Is Everywhere: Avian Love, Medieval Myths, and More From Around the Web

Get a peek into what we’re obsessed with right now.

April White December 8, 2023

A small Lancashire courting cake

Lancashire Courting Cake

Before dating apps, young people used this cake to express their feelings.

African penguins develop a unique arrangement of black speckles on their white bellies at around three months old.

How Polka Dots Help African Penguins Stand Out From the Crowd

A new study shows how the birds identify their mates in a sea of black and white.

Roxanne Hoorn November 30, 2023

The small interior of a chapel with a small mosaic floor arched roof and two coffins.

Carrick-On-Shannon, Ireland

Costello Memorial Chapel

The smallest chapel in Europe is a moving testament to the love between a husband and wife.

São Miguel, Portugal

Lagoa das Sete Cidades (Lagoon of the Seven Cities)

Legend has it the lovelorn tears of a princess and a shepherd boy formed the blue and green twin lakes in the Azores archipelago.

Tallinn, Estonia

Kissing Hill

This park built on a former fortress has a reputation for romance.

Alley of the Kiss

11 Sites for Clandestine Romance

Because famous—and famously doomed—lovers have been sneaking around forever.

Diana Hubbell February 14, 2023

All illustrations: John Mata for Atlas Obscura

Puzzle Monday: Be My AO Valentine Crossword

AO Puzzles February 13, 2023

Methods for determining if love is true date back centuries. In the early 1900s, serious scientists and penny-arcade entrepreneurs alike tried to measure the emotion.

Inside a Decades-Long Quest to Measure Love

The journey of the "Love Tester," from serious-seeming science to the penny-arcade amusements.

April White February 10, 2023