Juliet’s Balcony

This is the house that drew Rachel to Verona:

Since at least the 19th century it’s been known as Juliet’s House, probably because it at one point belonged to the Capiletti family, whose name may have given rise to the Capulets (though conversely, the similarity between the names may also be what gave rise to the house’s association with Juliet).

The house dates from the 14th century.

Regrettably, the balcony dates from 1934.

(So do the Moorish window arches, which were transplanted from another old house.)

Most of the house is a Romeo and Juliet museum, though it has some medieval ceramics and frescoes as well. It’s much bigger than you realize. From the street, nothing is visible except a tunnel to an interior courtyard. When you walk into the courtyard, you think that the house is on the right, until you realize that the house actually wraps all the way around the courtyard. On the street side, it towers a massive seven stories. The internet seems to think it originated as an inn, but there was no mention of this in the museum itself. I don’t think much of its history is known.

The precise provenance of the balcony is also unknown, but it’s probably made from a 17th-century casket.

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