Juliet's House

Juliet's House is one of the most visited and photographed places in Verona, located at Via Cappello 23 in the heart of the medieval historic centre. According to tradition, this 13th-century palace belonged to the Cappello (Capulet) family, and here Shakespeare set the tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet. The inner courtyard is entirely covered with love graffiti left by millions of visitors in love, while at the centre stands the famous bronze statue of Juliet sculpted by Nereo Costantini in 1972.

Tradition has it that touching the right breast of the statue brings good luck in love and guarantees a return to Verona. The famous pink marble balcony, added in the 1930s, overlooks the courtyard and has become the symbol of eternal love. Every day hundreds of visitors climb the medieval stairs to look out from the balcony and live the emotion of the most iconic scene in world literature, immortalised in Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 film.

From the medieval Cappello palace to the Shakespearean myth

The palace was built in the 13th century by the Dal Cappello family, whose coat of arms depicts a hat and which popular tradition identifies with the Shakespearean Capulets. The building features the typical Veronese medieval Gothic architecture with exposed bricks, arched mullioned windows and the characteristic inner courtyard surrounded by a loggia. The original structure remained a private residence until the 1930s.

In 1936 the City of Verona acquired the building and commissioned the addition of the famous pink marble balcony to satisfy the expectations of tourists arriving from all over the world looking for the place where Romeo declared his love. The balcony was made using a 14th-century medieval sarcophagus and immediately became the main attraction, transforming a simple medieval palace into the most visited shrine of romantic love in the world.

Inside the palace is the Casa di Giulietta Museum, a route on three floors that recounts the legend through Renaissance frescoes, period furniture and above all an exceptional collection of theatrical costumes used in the most important productions of Romeo and Juliet in the world. The highlight is the magnificent sixteenth-century four-poster bed where, according to the legend, Juliet spent her last night with Romeo. The museum rooms also preserve ancient editions of the Shakespearean work in dozens of different languages, historical photographs of theatrical and film performances, and documents that testify how the story has conquered cultures all over the world.

The museum also hosts temporary exhibitions dedicated to art, romantic literature and the universal power of love as a force that overcomes every division.

In addition to the tradition of touching the statue of Juliet for good luck in love, the courtyard hosts a board where lovers hang love padlocks with their names. The walls are completely covered with messages, declarations and graffiti left by visitors of every nationality, creating a colourful mosaic of romantic hopes. Since 1937 there has been the Juliet Club, a group of volunteers who reply to the thousands of love letters that arrive every year from all over the world addressed to "Juliet, Verona".

These letters, written in every imaginable language, ask sentimental advice from the most famous romantic heroine in history. The Club also organises the international "Dear Juliet" competition for the most beautiful love letter.