In the middle of one of the pedestrian-only streets lies a monument to the ancient civilization of Verona. It showcases the ancient foundation of some buildings and streets.

Porta Nuova is one of the original gates of the ancient city wall. It is a monument to the genius of Michele Sanmicheli. The Porta Nuova was built between 1535 and 1540, but only part of what is now standing is original, as some of it was rebuilt by the Austrians in 1854.

The name of Verona is also known throughout the world because of Shakespeare's tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. At number 27 of Via Cappello, there is the Juliet's House (La Casa di Giulietta), once owned by the Dal Cappello, or Capulet, family. A small marble balcony records the most famous verses of Shakespeare's tragedy, in which Romeo declares his love for Juliet as she stands on the balcony. It is an architecturally charming stone balcony, said to have inspired William Shakespeare to write the balcony scene in his tragic story.

Over the years, the areas surrounding Juliet's balcony have become a makeshift shrine to young lovers. As you can see, there are thousands, if not millions, of love notes and phone numbers stuck to the walls by people's chewed gum. Also, the courtyard and tunnel were so crowded, it was hard to get in and out to see the small balcony. Overall, I didn't find Juliet's balcony romantic at all.

NOTE: On December 13, 2004, I read that there is an effort underway to clean the love notes and gum off the medieval walls. There will be designated places to tack up love notes, but the people of Verona are trying to preserve the ancient walls, which the chewing gum is destroying. The clean-up should be completed February 2005. Maybe Juliet's balcony will become less seedy with this effort.

An interesting sidenote:

Everywhere else in Italy where we visited people sold goods on the street. However, in Verona, it seemed to be illegal. While we were walking down Via Giuseppe Mazzini (a pedestrian only street in the shopping district), we saw many street vendors. They were not set up like other places, though. All of there goods were neatly placed on a white sheet. As we were progressing down the street, we saw a few of these street vendors hastily grab the four corners of the sheet, bundling their goods up in the process, and run down the narrow alleys. Soon after we saw this suspicious act, we walked by a couple of Polizia as they walked down the street. After a few more yards, we saw those same street vendors were setting their goods back up on their white sheets once the Polizia had already passed that area. We thought it was pretty funny.