Het Knopenlaantje

In the eastern Netherlands, south of the Castle Vorden, there’s a pathway known as Het Knopenlaantje, or the “Lane of Knots.”

The road is lined with beech trees, and many of them have their branches twisted into knots. Some have been growing into that shape for so long that the strands of the knot have grafted together and become a permanent part of the tree’s shape.

The knots are supposed to symbolize love—they’re tied by couples walking down the lane. The tied branches are meant as a stand in for the strength of their bond to each other (or, in a less charming interpretation, the growing stiffness of long-term relationships).

Some of the older trees (and their lovers’ knots) died in a drought a few decades back, but new knots have taken their place, fusing together over time.