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Juliet statue in Verona: damage caused by tourists
Photo:
Mario Poli / EPA
A small hole has been discovered on one breast of the famous Juliet statue in the northern Italian city of Verona - probably because it has been touched too often by visitors in recent years.
Supposedly this guarantees eternal happiness in love.
Some days tourists queue up.
It is unclear whether the damage can be repaired: the statue may have to be replaced with a new one because of the amount of contact it has had.
A figure - a work by the Italian sculptor Nereo Costantini - has stood under the supposed balcony from the Shakespeare classic "Romeo and Juliet" since the 1970s.
However, the already somewhat worn original was brought into the house for protection in 2014 and replaced with a copy in the yard.
In any case, practically everything in the “Casa di Giulietta” (“Juliet’s House”) on via Cappello 23 is invented and recreated.
A Julia Capuleti never lived there.
Nevertheless, hundreds of thousands of tourists flock there every year to see the supposed setting of one of the most famous love scenes in world literature.
The house belonged to a family called Capello for centuries, but then fell into disrepair.
In 1935, the city bought it to boost tourism and renovated everything.
Perhaps the most famous balcony in world literature was added later: in reality, it is a sarcophagus that was found during excavations in Verona.
There are also countless scribbles of vows of love on the walls of the house.
In addition, in many places there are castles with the names of lovers from all over the world.
bbr/dpa