The short version: Don’t waste your time queuing for Juliet’s balcony—it’s a 1930s fake made from a repurposed stone coffin. Verona is absolutely worth visiting for its genuine, awe-inspiring history instead. Explore the 2,000-year-old Verona Arena (which still hosts massive operas), walk the paranoid escape routes of the medieval Scaliger family at Castelvecchio, and see the Ponte Pietra, a Roman bridge painstakingly rebuilt brick by brick after WWII.
On this page10 sections
- Is Juliet’s balcony in Verona real?
- Why is there a whale bone hanging in Piazza delle Erbe?
- Is the Torre dei Lamberti worth climbing in Verona?
- Is the Verona Arena older than the Colosseum?
- Why was the Castelvecchio built in Verona?
- How did the Della Scala family lose Verona?
- How was the Ponte Pietra rebuilt after WWII?
- Where to stay in Verona
- Final Thoughts
- Frequently asked questions
The most famous landmark in Verona is a complete lie. Frankly, it might be Italy’s most successful, longest-running con.
Every year, millions of visitors flock to this remarkably beautiful northern Italian city, affectionately dubbed the ‘City of Love’. They arrive by the coachload, armed with selfie sticks, Sharpies, and a head full of Shakespeare, desperately navigating the narrow cobblestone streets to pay their respects at the legendary balcony where Romeo supposedly wooed Juliet.
But here’s the rather blunt reality check: Juliet wasn’t a real person. William Shakespeare never set foot in Verona. And that world-famous balcony? It’s an old medieval stone coffin, unceremoniously bolted to a brick wall in the 1930s.
Today, I’m ditching the tourist traps and stepping away from the manufactured romance. Because once you scratch beneath the surface of the Shakespeare myth, the actual history of Verona is incredibly cutthroat, wildly impressive, and honestly, so much better than a fake stone box.
If you’re planning a trip, or just want to know what you’re missing while everyone else is staring at a wall of chewing gum, here is the real history of Verona.
Is Juliet’s balcony in Verona real?
No, Juliet’s balcony is completely fake. Juliet was a fictional character, William Shakespeare never visited Verona, and the famous balcony is actually a 14th-century stone coffin that the city bolted to a brick wall in the 1930s to boost tourism.
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Let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first. If you walk down Via Cappello, a relatively narrow street lined with high-end shops, you’ll eventually hit a bottleneck of monumental proportions. Thousands of people queue up daily, cramming into a tiny, claustrophobic courtyard to take a photo with a bronze statue of Juliet and stare up at ‘her’ balcony.
The walls of the archway leading into the courtyard are plastered in chewing gum, graffiti, and hastily scribbled love notes on scraps of paper. There is also a rather bizarre tradition where tourists queue up to rub the right breast of the bronze Juliet statue for luck in love—which has resulted in the metal being polished to a gleaming gold, while the rest of the statue has oxidised to a dull green.
It is entirely manufactured. A brilliantly executed illusion.
The story of Romeo and Juliet wasn’t even Shakespeare’s original idea. He essentially nicked the plot from Arthur Brooke, an English poet, who in turn translated it from older Italian writers like Matteo Bandello and Luigi da Porto. They were writing entirely fictional tragedies. The Montagues and Capulets (Montecchi and Cappelletti) were indeed real rival political factions in Italy, mentioned briefly in passing by Dante in his Divine Comedy, but the star-crossed teenage lovers were purely a literary invention.
As for the building itself? The Casa di Giulietta belonged to the Dal Cappello family. Because “Cappello” sounds close enough to “Capulet,” the Verona city council saw a golden opportunity and bought the dilapidated property in 1905.
But it wasn’t until the 1930s that a local museum director named Antonio Avena decided to give the city’s tourism a massive nudge. During an era when Italy was heavily promoting its national heritage, Avena oversaw the ‘restoration’ of the building, adding gothic windows and, crucially, attaching the famous balcony to the front of the courtyard. The balcony itself is constructed from a 14th-century sarcophagus.
So, people are essentially fighting for space to pledge their eternal love to a repurposed medieval coffin, in honour of a girl who never existed, written about by a bloke from Stratford-upon-Avon who was never there.
Practical Tip: Look, I get it. If it’s your first time in Verona, you probably want to see it just to say you’ve ticked it off the list. If you absolutely must go, get there at 8:30 AM right as the iron gates open. By 10:30 AM, it is a chaotic, shoulder-to-shoulder scrum. The courtyard is free to enter, but you have to pay a small fee to go inside the house and stand on the balcony itself. Save your Euros, acknowledge it’s a brilliant bit of marketing, skip the queue, and go find the real city.
Why is there a whale bone hanging in Piazza delle Erbe?
A centuries-old whale bone hangs from the Arco della Costa as a medieval oddity. While local legend claims it will fall on the first person to walk underneath who has never told a lie, historically, it was likely an elaborate advertising gimmick for a nearby pharmacy selling exotic medicines.
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Once you officially escape the Juliet zone and your blood pressure returns to normal, you can step into Piazza delle Erbe. This is the oldest square in Verona, sitting exactly where the ancient Roman Forum used to be. It has been the historical centre of the city’s political and economic life for over two millennia.
Today, it’s surrounded by stunning frescoed buildings, like the beautifully painted Mazzanti Houses, and packed with market stalls. While the stalls used to sell spices and fresh produce, they now mostly peddle Venetian masks and standard tourist tat, but the atmosphere is still brilliant.
It’s a fantastic spot to grab a dangerously strong espresso, but I always come here to look for something slightly sinister hanging in the archway connecting the square to the quieter Piazza dei Signori.
Hanging from the Arco della Costa (Arch of the Rib) is a massive, centuries-old whalebone.
Nobody actually knows for certain why it’s there, though it’s been hanging by an iron chain since at least the 1700s (and likely much longer). The prevailing local legend is that it acts as a medieval lie detector: the heavy bone is meant to fall on the first person to walk underneath it who has never told a lie.
Considering it’s been hanging there through centuries of corrupt politicians, dubious merchants, and millions of tourists, I think it’s safe to say we’re all as guilty as each other. (I walked under it, looked up, and nothing happened. Guess I’m a liar too).
Historically speaking, the bone was most likely an elaborate advertising gimmick. In the Middle Ages, pharmacies often sold powdered bone, mummy dust, and exotic relics as medicines. Hanging a massive whale rib outside your apothecary was a pretty striking way of telling the illiterate masses, “We stock the rare, expensive stuff.”
Is the Torre dei Lamberti worth climbing in Verona?
Yes, climbing the 84-metre Torre dei Lamberti offers the best panoramic views of Verona’s red-tiled roofs. While it took 300 years to build, today you can skip the 368 steps and take the lift, which is included if you purchase the Verona Card.
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Once you get above the crowds and out of the narrow streets, you realise just how stunning the layout of Verona actually is. If you want a genuine icon of the city—something far better than a fake balcony—look up at the Torre dei Lamberti.
Dominating the skyline with its alternating bands of brick and marble, this massive tower stands at 84 metres tall. Construction started in 1172, but it took them about 300 years to actually finish the thing. Even by the famously relaxed standards of Italian construction schedules, that is taking your sweet time.
The tower houses two famous bells, each with a very specific medieval job. The smaller one, the Marangona, was used to signal the end of the working day for the city’s carpenters (marangoni) and to raise the alarm for fires. The larger, deeper bell, the Rengo, was strictly used to call the city council to arms or to warn the citizens of an impending Venetian invasion.
Practical Tip: You can climb the Torre dei Lamberti for panoramic views of the city’s sea of red-tiled roofs. There are 368 steps, but thankfully, they eventually saw sense and installed a lift. It costs about €6, but if you buy the Verona Card (which I highly recommend if you’re here for 48 hours and plan on seeing multiple sites), entry to the tower is included.
Why is the River Adige so important to Verona?
The River Adige is the whole reason Verona exists. That loop of river made the city a seriously wealthy trading hub centuries before anyone was writing plays about it, and the wealth paid for the architecture you’re looking down on from the Torre dei Lamberti.
From the top of the tower, you’ll notice something you can’t quite grasp from street level: the whole historical centre of the city is basically hugged by a massive, sweeping loop of the River Adige.
This fast-flowing, green-tinted river is the entire reason Verona exists. Geographically, it flows down from the Alps, acting as a natural moat and a highly defensible barrier. More importantly, long before anyone was writing plays, the Adige turned Verona into a seriously wealthy trading hub. It was the superhighway of antiquity, connecting Northern Europe to the Mediterranean.
That immense wealth is what paid for the unbelievable architecture scattered around the city. Take the Verona Cathedral (Duomo), for instance. It is built straight on top of the ruins of two older, Palaeo-Christian churches. In 1117, a massive, catastrophic earthquake completely flattened the city. Rather than abandoning the site, the Veronese simply dusted themselves off, salvaged the rubble, and built an even more magnificent Romanesque cathedral in its place.
If you look at the city walls and the embankments (muraglioni), you’ll notice they are made of distinct local stone. Following a devastating flood in 1882 that washed away bridges and submerged the city centre, these massive walls were built to tame the river, permanently altering Verona’s relationship with the water.
Is the Verona Arena older than the Colosseum?
Yes, the Verona Arena was built 50 years before the Colosseum in Rome. Constructed from incredibly tough local pink limestone, this 2,000-year-old absolute unit of a building is so well-engineered that it still operates today as a world-class opera and theatre venue.
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The acoustics in there are so good that the summer operas don’t even bother with microphones.
I love this city in the early morning. While it certainly gets busy during the day—the ‘City of Love’ marketing clearly works wonders for the local economy—it never feels quite as overwhelmingly overrun as the major hotspots of Venice or Rome.
If you take a morning stroll, you’ll eventually wander out of the tight medieval alleys and into Piazza Bra. It is one of the biggest public squares in the whole of Italy. The name ‘Bra’ actually comes from an old Germanic word, breit, meaning ‘broad’. It’s a fitting name, considering that long before it was lined with posh cafes serving overpriced Aperol Spritz, it was a massive, muddy livestock market just outside the city walls.
Piazza Bra has what I firmly believe should be the city’s most famous landmark: the Verona Arena.
When people hear “ancient Roman amphitheatre,” they immediately think of the Colosseum in Rome. But honestly? I think the Arena in Verona is vastly superior.
First of all, it’s older. Built in 30 AD, it predates the Colosseum by nearly 50 years.
Secondly, it’s incredibly tough. Geologically speaking, it’s a masterpiece of local sourcing. It was constructed using local Rosso Ammonitico, a beautifully textured pink and white limestone quarried from the nearby Valpolicella region (the same place they make the famous red wine). If you look closely at the stone blocks, you can actually see the swirling shapes of fossilised ammonites—ancient squid-like creatures from the Jurassic period—embedded right in the rock.
This limestone is fiercely durable. When that same catastrophic earthquake hit in 1117, it shook the region so violently that the outer ring of the Arena collapsed (the material from which was subsequently looted by locals to build nearby houses). But the core of the building simply shrugged it off and stayed standing.
Thirdly, and most importantly: unlike the Colosseum, the Verona Arena isn’t just a dusty ruin. It is still a fully operational, world-class venue. The Romans designed it with such perfect acoustics that gladiatorial combats and public executions could be heard clearly by 30,000 screaming spectators. Today, it holds about 15,000 people, and every summer, they put on massive, spectacular opera productions here, continuing a cultural tradition that started in 1913.
It is utterly mental that people are currently physically fighting for selfie space under a fake 1930s balcony, while this 2,000-year-old absolute unit of a building is just sitting down the road, quiet, proud, and still doing exactly what it was built to do millennia ago.
Practical Tip – Parking and Access: If you are driving to Verona, pay attention. The historical centre is a ZTL (Zona a Traffico Limitato). If you drive past the cameras without a resident’s permit, you will receive a hefty fine in the post six months later. Don’t risk it. Park at Parcheggio Cittadella or Parcheggio Centro (just south of the river); both are large, secure, and only a five-minute walk to Piazza Bra and the Arena.
Why was the Castelvecchio built in Verona?
Unlike most castles designed to keep foreign invaders out, the Castelvecchio was built by the ruling Della Scala family to protect themselves from their own citizens. This medieval mafia taxed the population heavily and built a private bridge as an escape route in case of a revolt.
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The Della Scala weren’t always like that. They actually started out as decent rulers. A few generations on, assassinating your own siblings had become the standard method for securing power.
If you want a story with actual drama, betrayal, and violence, forget Romeo and Juliet. Verona’s medieval history is pure, unadulterated Game of Thrones.
In the 13th and 14th centuries, Verona was ruled by the della Scala family (also known as the Scaligeri). They were essentially a medieval mafia who ran the city with an iron fist, transforming it from a minor commune into a major regional powerhouse. They even gave refuge to Dante Alighieri when he was exiled from Florence.
They were so intensely focused on projecting an image of terrifying strength that their most famous rulers literally named themselves after attack dogs. You had blokes calling themselves Mastino (Mastiff) and Cangrande (Big Dog).
You can see their legacy of wealth and ego in the Arche Scaligere (Scaliger Tombs). Located near the church of Santa Maria Antica, these incredibly intimidating, ornate Gothic monuments, topped with equestrian statues, were designed to project absolute power even from beyond the grave.
But their true paranoia is perfectly preserved at Castelvecchio (Old Castle).
Most castles in Europe were built on the edges of cities to keep foreign invaders out. Castelvecchio is entirely different. Built by Cangrande II in the 1350s, this massive red-brick fortress sits squarely on the riverbank, dominating the city skyline.
Why was it built there? Because the Scaliger family were so deeply unpopular, so thoroughly despised by their own overtaxed citizens, that the castle was built specifically to protect the rulers from the people of Verona.
Cangrande II was utterly terrified of being assassinated by a peasant revolt (a highly legitimate fear, seeing as he was eventually assassinated by his own brother). To ensure a quick getaway if the mob ever showed up with pitchforks, he constructed the stunning Castelvecchio Bridge (Ponte Scaligero).
Characterised by its distinctive swallowtail battlements, this wasn’t a public river crossing; it was a private, heavily fortified escape route. It led directly from the safety of the castle courtyard, across the rushing waters of the Adige, and pointed straight towards the Tyrolean mountains where his allies lived.
Building a massive, fortified panic room and your own private bridge just in case your own citizens try to string you up? Total dicks, frankly.
How did the Della Scala family lose Verona?
In 1387, an army from Milan marched on Verona to conquer it, and the locals didn’t even put up a fight. They just opened the city gates and let the invaders in.
That’s how utterly toxic the family had become. The one they nicknamed the Rabid Dog was so terrified of being murdered that he surrounded himself with foreign mercenaries. Paying for them, and for those extravagant tombs, meant taxing the absolute life out of the family’s own starving citizens.
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How was the Ponte Pietra rebuilt after WWII?
After the Ponte Pietra was completely destroyed by retreating forces at the end of World War II, the locals meticulously fished all the original Roman bricks out of the river. They then painstakingly rebuilt the entire bridge piece by piece rather than constructing something modern.
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That’s the short version. The long version starts with a lot of padlocks.
There is a brilliant, slightly tragic irony to the modern tourist experience in Verona. As you walk around, you’ll see love heart padlocks clamped to almost every bridge, chain, and railing. It’s a concerted effort to “love-wash” Verona, leaning heavily into the fictional romance to sell trinkets.
But if you want a real love story, a story of genuine devotion, you need to walk up the river to the Ponte Pietra (Stone Bridge).
Completed around 100 BC, the Ponte Pietra is the oldest bridge in Verona. For over two thousand years, it survived the fall of the Roman Empire, the dark ages, massive floods, the brutal rule of the Scaliger family, and the rise of modern Italy.
But it didn’t survive World War II.
In April 1945, as German forces were retreating from Italy, they enacted a scorched-earth policy, rigging the city’s historical bridges with explosives. The Ponte Pietra was completely blown apart, leaving only a single Roman arch standing on the far bank.
When the war ended, the city was utterly devastated. The quick, cheap, and easy option would have been to pour some concrete, build a modern, functional bridge, and get the city moving again. No one would have blamed them.
But the Veronese flat-out refused.
Instead, in an act of staggering devotion to their heritage, they employed a technique called anastylosis. They painstakingly dredged the freezing, fast-flowing riverbed. They fished all the original Roman stones and medieval red bricks out of the waters of the Adige. They laid them out on the banks, numbered them like a massive, heartbreaking jigsaw puzzle, and rebuilt the bridge piece by piece, stone by stone, exactly as it was.
Stand on the Ponte Pietra today, look towards the Roman Theatre built into the hillside opposite, and look down at the mismatched bricks under your feet. It is a beautiful bridge, but more importantly, it is a physical monument to civic pride. That is what real love for your city actually looks like.
Where to stay in Verona
Don’t fall into the trap of booking a room right next to the Arena or the tourist circus of Via Cappello unless you enjoy overpaying to sleep in a literal bottleneck. The historic core is jaw-droppingly beautiful, but it gets absolutely choked with day-trippers by mid-morning. If you have cash to burn and want a premium boutique base hidden behind a Renaissance facade, the ancient center works, provided you don’t mind dodging selfie sticks the second you step out of your lobby.
To actually breathe, look across the loops of the River Adige. If you prefer a quieter, more affluent atmosphere, head north into Borgo Trento. It is a leafy, residential area full of impressive early twentieth-century villas that have been converted into sharp, clean guesthouses. It feels like an actual neighborhood, features brilliant local bakeries, and keeps you within a brief, scenic walk over the water from the Roman ruins.
If you want something punchier and friendlier on the wallet, head east into Veronetta. This is the university district, meaning it is a bit rougher around the edges, wonderfully unpretentious, and blissfully free of manufactured romance. You will find excellent mid-range apartments and budget rooms here, surrounded by authentic osterias serving local Valpolicella wine at proper local prices rather than the inflated tourist rates.
Final Thoughts
So, maybe there is a love story in Verona after all. But it certainly isn’t Romeo and Juliet.
While the tale of Juliet’s balcony might be a cynical fib designed to sell keyrings, it’s hard to hold a grudge against Verona when it looks like this. It’s an incredibly beautiful city, rich in food, culture, and architecture, and it’s very easy to fall in love with it. Yes, it uses a completely made-up story to get people through the door. But if you have the sense to walk five minutes away from the crowds and the chewing gum walls, the genuine, ancient history waiting for you makes that fake stuff look like a joke.
Skip the balcony. Go run your hands over the 2,000-year-old fossilised limestone of the Arena. Walk the paranoid private escape routes of medieval warlords. And cross a Roman bridge that a broken city loved enough to pull from the bottom of a river.
Have you ever visited a famous tourist trap that turned out to be a massive letdown? Or did you ditch the crowds and find some hidden history that made the trip worthwhile? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Frequently asked questions
Did Shakespeare ever visit Verona?
No, William Shakespeare never set foot in Verona or anywhere else in Italy. He based the plot of Romeo and Juliet on translated works from older Italian writers who were writing entirely fictional tragedies.
How tall is the Torre dei Lamberti?
The Torre dei Lamberti dominates the Verona skyline at 84 metres tall. It took about 300 years to build, and today you can either climb its 368 steps or take a lift to the top for panoramic views of the city.
Is the Juliet balcony free to visit?
Entering the cramped courtyard to see the bronze Juliet statue and look up at the balcony is free. However, if you want to go inside the house and physically stand on the fake balcony, you have to pay a small entrance fee.
Can you go inside the Verona Arena?
Yes, the Verona Arena is open to visitors during the day. Because it is still a fully operational venue, the best way to experience its perfect Roman acoustics is to buy a ticket for one of the massive summer operas held there.
Where is the best view of Verona?
For the best panoramic view of Verona and the River Adige, take the funicular up the hill to Castel San Pietro. For a few euros, it acts as a glass elevator, saving you a massive climb up the stairs.