History, legend & heritage

A medieval house.
A timeless story.

The story of Juliet’s House, from a medieval tower house on Via Cappello to one of Verona’s best-loved places.

The stone balcony and Gothic windows of Juliet’s House in Verona — The balcony added during the restoration of 1939–1940.

A medieval tower house

Juliet’s House at Via Cappello 23 is a medieval tower house documented since 1351. It once housed an inn, and in the 18th century it came to be identified as the house of the Capulets, Juliet’s family in the story.

The crenellated brick wall around the courtyard of Juliet’s House

A painted portrait beside a stone fireplace inside Juliet’s House

From Luigi da Porto to Shakespeare

Luigi da Porto wrote down the tale of Romeo and Juliet around 1531, and William Shakespeare made it world-famous in the 1590s. Verona really had families called Montecchi and Cappelletti; Dante names them in the Divine Comedy.

A balcony for the legend

The City of Verona bought the house in 1905. In 1939–1940 Antonio Avena restored it and added the balcony, assembled from 14th-century marble pieces kept at the Castelvecchio Museum. Nereo Costantini’s statue of Juliet, made in 1972, was later placed in the courtyard.