Juliet's Balcony
Shakespeare's play at the end of the 1500's was based on a 200 year-old Italian love story legend that had been recorded in a novella. Bill (who never visited Italy) put his own twist on the plot and characters. This balcony and courtyard became famous when a team from Hollywood came to Verona in the 1930's to promote their movie. This property owned by the Dal Cappello family seemed close enough to the fictional Capulet family, and canny marketing gave the legend substance. Millions now visit this courtyard each year - don't come on Valentine's Day! Touching Juliet's 1972 statue is meant to help frustrated lovers (yeah, right).
Italy became a nation-state in 1861 when the city-states of the peninsula, along with Sardinia and Sicily, were united under King Victor EMMANUEL II. An era of parliamentary government came to a close in the early 1920s when Benito MUSSOLINI establis... ... read more 
