Juliet’s Balcony and Statue, Verona, Italy

A visit to Verona will include a stop at ‘Juliet’s Balcony’ and statue. It’s nothing but a ploy, and a rather kitsch one at that, to attract tourists, but has to be admired for it’s success. Both times I have been there it was very crowded and you can see from the shine on the statue there is a particular part of Juliet’s body that is rubbed frequently for good luck! The house dates from the 13th century, but the balcony was added less than a hundred years ago. The only possible connection with the Romeo and Juliet story might be that the house was owned by the Capello family, who have a similar name to Juliet’s (Giuletta’s) family, the Capelletti family, in one of the oldest surviving versions of the story from the mid-1300’s. Today the house contains a small museum of Renaissance period artifacts and the bed used in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film adaptation of the Shakespearean version of the story.