You descend stone steps into a dim crypt, the air cool even in summer, and there at the far end it stands: a large, lidless sarcophagus in red Verona marble. No inscription. No name. Empty. Yet every year thousands of people pause in silence before this block of stone, as though before a relic. The real question — the one almost no one dares ask out loud — is: was Juliet ever actually here?
Who invented Juliet's Tomb (and when)
The story of Romeo and Juliet did not originate with Shakespeare's pen. It was the Vicentine nobleman Luigi Da Porto who, in 1531, published the Historia novellamente ritrovata di due nobili amanti, the first text in which the two lovers are mentioned in written narrative form. Shakespeare, in turn, drew from the novella by Matteo Bandello, who had himself been inspired by Da Porto's tale.
The problem is that while the Montecchi family is a historical fact — they genuinely existed — the Capulets do not appear to have ever existed as such; and even if they were the Cappello family, it seems the two households had nothing whatsoever to do with one another.
The leap from literature to stone happened in the sixteenth century. The tradition identifying the former convent of San Francesco al Corso as the burial place of the two lovers dates to the 1500s, according to the testimony of the scholar Girolamo dalla Corte, who was the first to refer to the tomb held in that convent. An empty sarcophagus, without a lid or inscriptions, was already there. The overlaps with the story seemed too numerous to dismiss, and Grand Tour travellers, from the 1700s onwards, began including the site on their Veronese itinerary.
The "wrong" convent: what Da Porto's novella actually says
Here lies the detail almost no tourist guide ever mentions. In Da Porto's original novella, Juliet goes to seek help from Friar Lorenzo in the church of San Francesco — but not necessarily the one in Verona. When Juliet makes her way to the church of San Francesco attached to its convent, the narrative setting most likely mirrors Palazzo Savorgnan in Udine, which stood almost directly beside the church of San Francesco at the Udinese convent. The novella, probably autobiographical, is dedicated to Da Porto's cousin Lucina Savorgnan and their ill-fated love.
In other words: the Veronese convent of San Francesco al Corso was chosen for reasons of narrative suggestion — a recurring name, a conveniently empty sarcophagus, the right atmosphere. Not because of any documented historical correspondence. But this love story was so powerful that it was immediately taken as true.
With a touch of distinctly Veronese irony: the nuns assigned to the monastery, unimpressed by the sudden attention surrounding a tale of profane love, attempted to dispose of the sarcophagus by using it as a feeding trough for the animals kept in the courtyard. Romantic tourism eventually swept them aside.
What tourism sells — and what Verona has built over time
The myth-making machine set to work methodically. Antonio Avena, director of Verona's civic museums, arranged for the tomb to be placed in the crypt, after the empty red marble sarcophagus had already been regarded, from the early 1800s onwards, as the burial site of Shakespeare's heroine. In 1938, the sarcophagus was moved to its current position — the one visitors see today.
From the first decades of the nineteenth century, the tomb became the destination of a vaguely superstitious cult, to the point that visitors chipped away fragments, treating them almost as sacred relics. Maria Luisa d'Asburgo Lorena, Empress of the French, had earrings and a necklace made from fragments of the red marble composing the sarcophagus. Lord Byron wept over it. Madame de Staël wrote about it. The European Grand Tour had found its secular altar of love.
The first to give the myth an institutional voice was Ettore Solimani, the custodian of the Tomb who, from 1930 onwards, began collecting the first letters left by lovers and replying to each one, effectively becoming Juliet's secretary. That practice gave rise to the Club di Giulietta, still active today.
How to visit in 2026 (updated practical information)
The tomb is located in the Museo degli Affreschi G.B. Cavalcaselle, at Via Luigi da Porto, 5 — roughly 10–12 minutes on foot from the Arena, following the ancient city walls. It sits just outside the densest part of the historic centre, but the walk is pleasant and rarely crowded.
The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00, with last entry at 17:30. It is closed on Mondays, 25 December, and 1 January. Full-price admission is €4.50 (plus online booking fee); reduced tickets for groups, visitors over 60, and partner organisations are €3.00. A combined ticket covering the Tomb and Casa di Giulietta is also available at €7.00 full price.
A local tip: come on a weekday morning, after 10:30. The crypt is small and hushed — the experience is entirely different from the busy afternoon rush. Spend at least 20 minutes in the cloister and among the medieval frescoes in the museum: they are among the least photographed and most beautiful in the Scaligera city. Most visitors descend into the crypt, climb back up, and leave. You shouldn't.
Is it worth visiting knowing it's a myth?
Yes — and perhaps even more so because of it. A Roman sarcophagus, empty, in a Franciscan crypt, transformed into a global symbol of love: that is the true story — and it is more fascinating than the legend.
Can I buy tickets on the spot?
Yes, the ticket office is at the museum entrance. The official site for online purchase is verona.midaticket.it. It is advisable to avoid other sites, particularly those that charge inflated prices or advertise skip-the-line tickets.
How do I get there from the Arena/Piazza Bra area?
On foot in 10–12 minutes: from Piazza Bra follow Via Pallone, turn onto Via del Pontiere, and continue to Via Luigi da Porto. No transport needed, and pedestrians have no ZTL restrictions to worry about.
If you are planning your stay in Verona and want everything in the historic centre within easy walking distance — the Arena, Casa di Giulietta, the tomb and Teatro Ristori — the apartments at The Verona Stay are exactly where you need to be. Choose between The Verona Stay Arena, at Via Roma 21, or The Verona Stay Ristori, close to the theatre: two locations, zero compromises.