Shakespeare’s famous play “Romeo and Juliet” maybe a work of fiction, but that hasn’t stopped hundreds of thousands of romantics from making pilgrimage to Verona to see the balcony where Juliet supposedly stood while Romeo declared his love.

This so called Casa di Giulietta, or Juliet’s House, actually belonged to the dell Capello family. The house dates from the 13th century and the family coat of arms can still be seen on the wall. The house was in a state of abandon and was overgrown with creepers when the city bought it in the early 1900s, and decided to turn it into Juliet’s House taking advantage of the similarity between the names of the house’s true owner —Capello— and the Capulets in Shakespeare’s play. 

Photo credit: whereisemil/Flickr