Juliet’s balcony in Verona

When visiting the beautiful city of Verona, Casa di Giulietta - the house of Juliet, the character immortalized by William Shakespeare in his love tragedy, is a must-see!

Simply make your way to Via Cappello and follow a passage enclosed by walls entirely covered with love letters, phrases and names of lovers who happen to pass by... The passage leads to a courtyard featuring the famous balcony, proudly erected on the facade of a fourteenth century building.

How many, upon seeing this small balcony, cannot fathom the romantic dialogue between the two lovers in the moonlight? To tell the truth though, the balcony is a fake!

The Capulet family’s houses were not actually located here, but rather in the vicinity of the bank of the River Adige. In the early twentieth century important work was carried out to prevent the river from flooding. Some medieval houses that prevented the construction of new dams had to be demolished. From the ruins of these buildings a small balcony dating back to the Gothic period was retrieved; the director of the Verona Civic Museum at the time - Antonio Avena – placed it in the courtyard of the Cappello family’s tower-house, which had just been purchased by the city of Verona to be turned into a museum: thus Juliet’s balcony was born.

The Cappello family were spice merchants whose main residence was right here. It firstly consisted of two adjacent medieval towers, which were later annexed to another construction. The courtyard was originally larger and didn’t feature the two sixteenth-century constructions which now house a gift shop, the foyer of the Teatro Nuovo and an early twentieth century condominium.

Besides Juliet’s house, our exclusive private Verona Shakespeare itinerary will show you many other places connected.