Juliet’s balcony: the most romantic place in Verona
Are you going to visit Verona for the first time? Make sure to add the city’s most romantic sight to your itinerary. I’m talking about the place that is the symbol of all lovers: Casa di Giulietta, or Juliet’s house.
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The house is supposed to be where Juliet (from Romeo and Juliet) lived. For those who don’t know Shakespeare’s famous love story, let me give you a summary.
The tragic play ‘Romeo and Juliet’
The play involves an age-old vendetta between two feuding families, the Montagues and the Capulets. One evening a group of disguised Montague boys attends a party of the Capulets. During the party, the lovesick Romeo Montague sees Juliet Capulet and falls instantly in love with her. As soon as Romeo and Juliet discover one another, Juliet’s cousin Tybalt recognizes the Montague boys and they’re forced to leave.
Romeo lingers near the Capulet house until he spots Juliet at her window (there is no balcony mentioned in the play). The two declare their love for one another and intend to marry. The very next day, the lovers are secretly married.
Following the secret marriage, Juliet’s cousin Tybalt sends a challenge to Romeo. This eventually leads to the death of Tybalt and Romeo is banished from Verona.
Meanwhile, Juliet’s father arranges a marriage for Juliet with the prince of Verona. To escape the wedding, Juliet drinks a sleeping potion that will make her seem dead. Thinking Juliet is dead, her parents entomb her.
Romeo hears of Juliet’s death, but didn’t get the note about it being staged. He rushes to Verona and goes to the tomb. Here he takes poison and dies. Moments later, Juliet awakens and learns what has happened. Overcome by the grief of finding Romeo dead beside her, Juliet eventually kills herself.
Juliet’s house
The Capulets and Montagues were genuine families. Both are mentioned in Dante’s Divine Comedy. The rest of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is pure fiction.
Juliet’s house belonged to the Cappello family. This name certainly sounds similar to the name Capulet. This resemblance was seized upon by locals. They proclaimed the building to be Juliet’s house. Since then, yearly thousands of tourists visit the place. All of them want to admire the balcony where both lovers declared their love to one another.
Inside the house you can get an idea of how people like Juliet and her family used to live. But to be honest, the only reason to go inside the house, is to pose on the balcony and have your picture taken.
In the courtyard of Juliet’s house, you’ll find a bronze statue of Juliet. Legend holds that you’ll be lucky in love if you touch the right breast of the statue.
Verona’s Love Wall
I remember my first visit to Verona years ago with my parents. Back then, the walls of the courtyard were covered with chewing gum. Many lovers used chewing gum to stick love letters to the walls. The hardened blobs of gum, however, were defacing the building. This is why local authorities tried to impose fines on those defacing the wall. Soon they found out they were fighting a losing battle. Instead of imposing fines, they now placed removable panels on which you are allowed to write.
Free love advice
Fun fact, thousands of people send letters to Juliet seeking advice on relationships or asking Juliet to bless their relationships. Across Juliet’s Balcony is an office where a dedicated team of volunteers works on answering all of these letters. They call themselves the Secretaries of Juliet.
Practical information
| Address: | Via Cappello, 23, Verona (Google Maps) |
| Open: | Tue - Sun 9:00 to 19:00, Mon 13:30 to 19:30 |
| Entree fees: | Entrance to the museum is €4,- |
| My advice: | If you don’t like crowds, visit Juliet’s house in the early morning and avoid the sight around Valentine. |
