  The concepts of topology provide a powerful tool to tailor the propagation
and localization of light. While electromagnetic waves have only two
polarization states, engineered degeneracies of photonic modes provide novel
opportunities resembling orbital or spin degrees of freedom in condensed
matter. Here, we tailor such degeneracies for the array of femtosecond laser
written waveguides in the optical range exploiting the idea of photonic
molecules -- clusters of strongly coupled waveguides. In our experiments, we
observe the emergence of topological modes caused by the inter-orbital coupling
and track multiple topological transitions in the system with the change of the
lattice spacings and excitation wavelength. This strategy opens an avenue in
designing novel types of photonic topological phases and states.
