(Matilde Anghinoni) Thousands of tourists and Veronese people, every year, book the coveted location inside Juliet’s Garden to swear eternal love. Such an unforgettable experience that, according to Palazzo Barbieri, seat of the City Council, will not be held back by the increase in prices. The promise of love under the benevolent gaze of Juliet now costs exactly twice: the rate has increased from 50 to 100 euros and allows you to have your exclusive use of the balcony for ten minutes, just the time to kneel and seal the bond with your soul mate.
The Shakespearean love icon attracts an average of 1.5 million tourists to Verona every year. Tourists who pour into the street of Via Cappello, in the heart of the historic center of Verona, direct to the Capuleti’s house. Some take a picture in front of the bronze statue of Juliet, others hang messages of love on the entrance wall of the courtyard. Others, in fact, swear eternal love.
The symbolic gesture can then find concreteness in a real wedding through the project Sposami a Verona. The initiative allows people to celebrate the wedding with civil ceremony in some of the most romantic places in Italy. These include the Museo degli Affreschi, right next to the tomb of Juliet, Palazzo Barbieri with the splendid Sala degli Arazzi, or the Cappella dei Notai. But not just weddings. Lovers can also choose vow renewal or the celebration of blessing, an Anglo-Saxon ceremony that can be moral or religious.
Sala delle Muse, Museo degli Affreschi
In the Museo degli Affreschi – Museum of Frescoes – from April 1 you can celebrate the wedding in the Sala delle Muse – Hall of the Muses -. To reconstruct the original environment, some frescoes that decorated the walls of a sixteenth-century Veronese palace, Palazzo Guarienti ai Filippi, have been relocated inside the room. The pictorial cycle features some mythological and allegorical figures such as Venus with two heroes, Diana huntress and some water nymphs. The frescoes date back to about 1560 and they are among the most amazing works by Paolo Farinati, one of the protagonists of Veronese painting.
Sala degli Arazzi, Palazzo Barbieri
In Piazza Bra, a few steps from the Arena, there is another place that welcomes the promise of lovers. Palazzo Barbieri is a neoclassical building inspired by the forms of the ancient Romans and since 1869 it has been the town hall. On the main floor of the building there is the Sala degli Arazzi – Hall of Tapestries – that takes its name from the two huge late sixteen century paintings that decorate it. The first one represents a dinner at the Levi house, the second describes the victory of the Veronese over the troops of Federico Barbarossa.
Cappella dei Notai, Palazzo della Ragione
Palazzo della Ragione is located between Piazza Erbe and Piazza dei Signori. Its most prestigious environment is the Cappella dei Notai – Chapel of the Notaries -. A space where the contained but explosive abundance leaves the visitor speechless. Its three rooms are decorated with large moon-shaped canvas paintings hanging on the walls alternated with other smaller oval-shaped paintings with original carved wooden frames.
Returning to the Juliet’s theme, for the Holiday break of April 25 and on days 29 and 30, the access to the House and the Courtyard will be possible through the entrance of Teatro Nuovo in Piazzetta Navona.
