What to See Inside Casa di Giulietta
A room-by-room guide to the bronze Juliet statue, the courtyard, the Zeffirelli costumes, the frescoed rooms, and the famous balcony itself.
Casa di Giulietta is one of Verona's smaller civic museums, which is part of its appeal — a complete visit takes 30 to 60 minutes inside the house plus 15 to 30 minutes in the courtyard. The interior is laid out across the original 14th-century brick tower house, with the new Teatro Nuovo foyer added in 2026 as the entry point. Visitors who arrive with the expectation of a large state museum can be disappointed; visitors who arrive understanding that the experience is a focused walk through the bronze statue, the courtyard, the medieval rooms, the Zeffirelli film exhibit, and the balcony itself tend to leave satisfied. This guide walks the museum in the order most visitors take it, with notes on what each space contains and why it matters.
The Teatro Nuovo Foyer and the New Entry Experience
From 1 April 2026 every visitor enters through the Teatro Nuovo foyer on Piazzetta Navona. The Teatro Nuovo itself is a 19th-century city theatre, and its monumental hall and foyer are integrated into the ticketed visit — both ticket levels include access to this entry experience. Visitors walking in see the foyer's plasterwork, the box-pass scanner that admits them to the courtyard, and signposting that directs them onward. The foyer functions as a buffer between the busy public street and the small medieval courtyard beyond, which has noticeably improved crowd flow compared to the historic Via Cappello door — visitors are admitted in their 15-minute time slot rather than pressing in continuously.
Audio guide rental and the small museum shop sit in the foyer. Bag check is available for large backpacks; small bags are permitted onward. The foyer is fully accessible, with lifts to all levels of the new entry building and step-free passage through to the courtyard. Allow 5 minutes here to collect your audio guide, check a bag if needed, and walk through to the courtyard itself.
The Courtyard, the Bronze Juliet, and the Wall of Letters
The courtyard is small — perhaps 15 metres across — and dominated by the bronze Juliet statue and the balcony above. The current statue is a 2014 replica of the 1973 original sculpted by Nereo Costantini and donated by the Lions Club of Verona. The original was moved indoors after decades of photo-tradition wear; visitors continue to touch the replica's right breast for luck, gradually wearing the replica in turn. The courtyard floor's polished stone, the medieval brick walls climbing on three sides, and the deliberate Gothic balcony above produce the photograph that visitors arrive for. Most spend 15 to 30 minutes here before stepping inside the house museum.
The wall of letters runs along one side of the courtyard. Visitors leave letters addressed to Juliet — taped to the wall, slipped into the crevices, or dropped into the dedicated post box maintained by the volunteer Club di Giulietta. The club, financed by the City of Verona and staffed by local volunteers since the 1980s, reads and replies to letters in multiple languages. The club received more than 5,000 letters annually as of 2010, and the 2010 American film Letters to Juliet (based on a book by Lise and Ceil Friedman about the organisation) further increased the volume. Museum staff periodically remove taped letters from the wall to prevent damage and to feed the volume into the volunteer response process.
The Frescoed Medieval Rooms
A short flight of stairs leads from the courtyard into the medieval house itself. The interior is preserved across three floors of the original 14th-century brick tower, with frescoed rooms presenting a curated picture of medieval and Renaissance Verona domestic life. The frescoes are partially original and partially restored; reproduction Renaissance-period furniture furnishes the rooms, chosen to evoke the period rather than to recreate any specific historical interior. Information panels in Italian and English explain the Capello family history, the 18th and 19th-century evolution of the Shakespeare association, and the 1939 redesign by the architect Antonio Avena that produced the museum visitors see today.
The rooms are small and the floors are wooden, and the visit through them is quiet and unhurried by design. There are no large gallery spaces and no lengthy didactic exhibits. Visitors typically spend 15 to 20 minutes across all three floors of the medieval rooms, longer if they read every panel. The narrow stairs between floors are stone and worn; mobility-limited visitors should expect to skip the upper floors. The view from the upper windows back into the courtyard is itself a worthwhile stop — the angle reveals how compact the courtyard actually is.
The Zeffirelli Romeo and Juliet Costume Exhibit
The central display inside the house museum is the collection of costumes and props from Franco Zeffirelli's celebrated 1968 film adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. The film, shot partly on location in Italy, won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design. The Casa di Giulietta exhibit holds a selection of the original wardrobe pieces — Juliet's gowns, Romeo's doublets, Capulet ballroom finery — displayed on mannequins behind glass, with informational panels in Italian and English on Zeffirelli's production choices and the costume designer Danilo Donati. The pieces are well preserved and are among the most photographed objects in the museum.
The Zeffirelli exhibit functions as the museum's emotional centrepiece because it gives the literary tradition a tangible cinematic anchor. Visitors who know the 1968 film recognise the costumes immediately; those who do not are introduced to the production through the panels. The 1968 Romeo and Juliet is widely taught in English-language schools, so a generation of international visitors arrives with the film as their primary reference for Shakespeare's tragedy. The exhibit acknowledges this and positions the costumes as the modern equivalent of the 19th-century literary-tourism wave that built Casa di Giulietta in the first place — each generation grafts its own version of the story onto the medieval house.
The Balcony Itself
A short stair from the upper rooms leads onto the balcony — the architectural centrepiece visitors come for. The balcony was installed in 1939 by Antonio Avena, fashioned from a medieval marble sarcophagus retrieved from the city's civic collections and supported by two new marble consoles. It is not original to the medieval house; it is itself now 86 years old and a documented work of 20th-century Italian conservation architecture. Stepping onto it, you look down into the courtyard where you stood 30 minutes earlier — the angle is famously short, the courtyard small, and the balcony surprisingly intimate when you arrive at it after the long walk through the museum.
Visitors take a few minutes here, queue politely for their balcony moment, and step back inside. The classic photograph is taken from the courtyard floor looking up; if you have a travelling companion, the standard pattern is to send them down first to photograph you, then swap. Some visitors deliver the balcony speech from Shakespeare's Act II Scene II — sotto voce, with varying degrees of self-consciousness. Photography is permitted throughout. The balcony has a low marble railing and is small enough that only two or three visitors fit at once; visitor flow is naturally limited by the architecture rather than by museum staff.
Frequently asked
How long does the inside of Casa di Giulietta take?
30 to 60 minutes for the medieval house and the Zeffirelli costume exhibit, plus 15 to 30 minutes in the courtyard with the bronze statue and the wall of letters. A relaxed complete visit is around 90 minutes.
What's the most photographed object inside?
The Zeffirelli 1968 Romeo and Juliet costumes and the balcony itself are the two most photographed indoor subjects. In the courtyard, the bronze Juliet statue and the balcony viewed from below are the headline shots.
Can I actually stand on the balcony?
Yes — the upper tier ticket includes balcony access. A short stair from the upper rooms leads onto the balcony, which fits two or three visitors at once.
Are the costumes from the 1968 Zeffirelli film originals?
Yes, a selection of the original wardrobe pieces from the film is on display behind glass, with information panels on the costume designer Danilo Donati and the production history.
Where does the rub-Juliet's-breast tradition come from?
An informal post-1973 tradition holds that touching the bronze Juliet's right breast brings luck in love. The original 1973 Costantini bronze wore visibly under decades of touching; the 2014 replica is now wearing in turn.
Are the medieval frescoes inside Casa di Giulietta original?
Partially. Some frescoes preserve original medieval and Renaissance work; others are restored or evocatively rebuilt during the 1939 Avena redesign of the museum. The information panels distinguish where this is documented.
Is the furniture inside Casa di Giulietta original?
No — the Renaissance-period furniture is reproduction, chosen to evoke the period of the Capello family residence rather than to recreate any documented historical interior.
Can I write a letter to Juliet inside the courtyard?
Yes. Letters can be dropped into the dedicated post box, taped to the wall of letters, or posted from home addressed to Juliet at Casa di Giulietta in Verona. The volunteer Club di Giulietta reads and replies.
Is there a museum shop?
Yes, in the Teatro Nuovo foyer. It sells books on the Shakespeare association, Verona-related souvenirs, and reproductions of items from the Zeffirelli costume exhibit.
Are the upper floors accessible by lift?
No. The medieval house's upper floors and the balcony itself are reached by original stone stairs with no lift. Teatro Nuovo and the courtyard are step-free, but the upstairs museum visit and the balcony are stair-only.