Yes, you read that correctly. I have been to the believed resting place of Shakespeare's own Juliet Capulet. Many have heard this famous name from Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It is one of the better-known screenplays he has written, but the various interpretations of film and spin-off series that have accompanied this famous title are what help keep the play alive. I mean, who could forget the 1996 adaptation that had Leonardo DiCaprio gunslinging in a flowery shirt protecting his love for his on-screen Juliet, Claire Danes. I can't remember what I witnessed in that film, and now scenes of it are in the modern "meme culture."
For those who have somehow filtered out the storyline of Romeo and Juliet from reaching their lives, I will give a brief synopsis of the plot.
It involves two star-crossed lovers and two powerful families that are feuding with each other. To add more fuel to the fire, one family, the Montagues, risk further conflict and crash the Capulet's, the other family, party. Here is where young Romeo falls for the younger Juliet upon first glance. Like any other tragic drama, Juliet was arranged to be married off to a man approved by her father, Paris. With the help of Juliet's nurse, a marriage between Romeo and Juliet, was scheduled for the next day. But, due to Romeo getting into a street fight that leads to the death of Juliet's cousin, he is banished. In an attempt to reunite with Romeo, Juliet goes along with the Friar's plan to fake her death. Romeo gets word that his beloved Juliet is dead. Believing this, he goes to her tomb, where he kills himself out of grief. Juliet then wakes up next to his corpse and decides to join his fate, and also kills herself. In the wake of the families grieving and realizing the two loved each other deeply, they agree to end their feud.
Like I have said before in earlier blog posts, it's believed that Romeo and Juliet took place in Verona, Italy. While I was visiting Verona in 2018, I kept hearing about this site that people called Juliet's Tomb. Interested, I looked more into where it was in Verona, and was it real?
I found out that Tomba di Giulietta (Juliet's Tomb) is a red marble sarcophagus that lies in a small room in what used to be the Franciscan church of San Francesco al Corso. Currently, it is the Museum of Frescos. The coffin claimed to be the spot where Romeo and Juliet acted out their final moments together and killed themselves. The moment that made their love so tragic. There are no bodies on display, and no one can authenticate the factual story of the tomb, but that hasn't prevented many to seek out the resting place, claiming it was Juliet's.
In the intimate dark crypt, it is easy to envision the events of which happened in Shakespeare's story, but that is all ignoring the fact that the story and the characters are indeed fictional. Although, the San Francesco al Corso has been identified as Act V's correct setting.
When I was walking into the museum, the entrance makes you feel like you stepped back in time. The Corinthian columns and the green vines and plants encompass a romantic feel, immediately making you think of Romeo and Juliet or another romantic storyline. It stirs up these feelings within you that you didn't even realize existed. The longing for a loved one, the sadness of those you have lost, and the excitement of what is yet to be. You feel all of this as you are simply walking into the area where the tomb is.
The beautiful marble sculptures surround you as their degraded faces are slowly being weathered away. Making this weird sense of anonymity develop not only in your surrounding but within yourself. It makes you question who you are and what you want to achieve in your life. It doesn't matter if that goal is in your professional or personal life. It still makes you think.
As you get closer to Juliet's physical tomb, the story of Romeo and Juliet plays out before you. Not within your mind, but within tiles sketched of the two lovers. The intricate detailing that went into these pieces of art is phenomenal. Even though they are small, they suck your attention right in. You realize you feel trapped just like Romeo and Juliet did in their love story. They had no place to escape to or to go. They had one destination in the end, and that was to be together.
Once you reach the tomb, you are looking at an empty sarcophagus. The red marble and the stonework is magnificent, but you are greeted with the fact that no one is resting there any longer. Not just that, but that the storyline of Romeo and Juliet is fictional. That made me have an epiphany. It wasn't Romeo and Juliet's emotions I was feeling, but my own that resurfaced from deep within me. I took the time to chase down a tomb in which could physically never be Juliet's tomb because Juliet didn't exist. I hunted down a love story that was fictional to feel the sensation of true love. Realizing this is powerful and life-changing. It allows you to be in touch with your much deeper emotions you didn't comprehend you needed to be in contact with and reflect on your inner self.
Juliet's Tomb or Tomba di Giulietta was so much more meaningful to me than I thought it ever would be. I thought I would walk in, take some photos and leave, and it would be an interesting place to post on my social media. In the end, I discovered emotions that had been locked away within me for years. It was one of the most meaningful places I visited in Italy. I am so fortunate and grateful that I discovered this spot in Verona. It was beautiful inside and out.
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