The City of Verona is located in Veneto, a northeast Italian region. It is one of the main tourist destinations in northern Italy for its history, architecture, scenery, but mostly because Verona is full of love! Maybe now you’re asking yourself why we talk about love. Think about the most romantic tragedy of all, a balcony, two enemy families… Obviously you got it! Verona is the city of the Shakespeare’s tragedy “Romeo and Juliet”. In fact, one of the most attractive places in Verona is the Juliet’s Balcony at Juliet’s House.

“Juliet.
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.
Romeo.
Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?
Juliet.
‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy:
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name.
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.”
– Romeo and Juliet Act II.

The Juliet’s House is located in the centre of Verona at via Cappello 23 and it is supposed to be the one of the tragedy. Here is where the Capulet family would have lived. An imposing wrought iron gate divides the doorway from the street, to get into the house’s courtyard you have to pass next to the Juliet’s Wall that is a wall at the entrance where people write their named and the names of their beloved ones. Many believe that writing on this place will make their love everlasting. You have to know that when you have decided to visit this place, you have also decided to leave your cynicism at the entrance!

Then, once you pass the short dark tunnel, you find the courtyard where there is a bronze statue of Juliet and the legend says that if a person strokes the right breast of the statue, that person will have good luck either in life and love! There is also a plaque that shows verses of Shakespeare’s tragedy. Not far away from Juliet’s House, you can find Montague’s House (Romeo’s House) located in via delle Arche Scaligere, therefore you can imagine the young Romeo that had to walk just some meters to secretly arrive to the famous balcony where his lover anxiously awaited him.

If we talk about love, we can’t forget the “Pozzo dell’Amore” (The Well of Love), a small and romantic corner in the historical center of Verona.

You can find it few steps from Piazza delle Erbe and this stone well has been there for many centuries. The legend around this well is about a soldier and a girl, it says that during the winter the soldier, who was in love with the girl (apparently she didn’t seem to love him back), told her that the water of the well was freezing as her soul; the girl, to challenge him, asked him to jump into the well to see if the water was that freezing as he was saying. He did it, and the girl, who actually loved him, followed him jumping into the well.

“THE WELL OF LOVE”
“THROW A PENNY IN THE WELL,                   THINK FOR A MOMENT TO YOUR FATE,               DO NOT DISTRACT, DO NOT MAKE NOISE,     HERE IT IS… HERE IT IS…                                 LOVE COMES!”

If we go on our love trip in Verona, we are able to discover that not only monuments or architectures let us think about love, but even food! In fact there is a Verona’s traditional dish called “Nodi d’amore” (Knots of love). This name comes from another legend about two lovers who left on the river shore a golden silk handkerchief symbolically tied by the two lovers as a pledge of love. From that day the girls of the area remember this love story by making dough that is very thin as the silk of the handkerchief and it is cut, stuffed with a variety of meat and knotted as a handkerchief.

Last but not least, we find the “Giusti Garden” located few steps from the city centre and close to the Roman Theater. This is a green oasis where you can find flowers collections, Roman artifacts, a majestic avenue of Cypresses, fountains, acoustic caves and one of the oldest labyrinth of Europe organized as a natural, artistic and historical path that ends with a belvedere where you can admire a splendid view of the city. According to local legend, lovers who manage to find each other in the gardens’ petite labyrinth are destined to stay together.