Sophie is an investigator for a magazine in New York and dreams of becoming a regular writer; her fiancé Victor loves food and is making intensive preparations for his upcoming restaurant. As the wedding day approaches, the two decide to travel to Italy for their honeymoon.
Verona, the romantic city, was the first stop for the two of them, and Juliet's former residence, which is located on the trail, allowed Sophie to witness a "unparalleled love" by chance.
Italy is located in southern Europe and consists of the boot-shaped Apennine Peninsula, Sicily and Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea and other scattered islands. It is a richly diverse country. The scenery in each part of its territory is different -
The Alps in the north are covered with snow all year round and covered with ice for thousands of miles;
The large island of Sicily in the south is sunny, warm and pleasant .
The Apennine Peninsula is also called the "Italian Peninsula", but in fact the island is also surrounded by two small pocket countries-San Marino (San Marino) and the Vatican (Vatican).
The shooting locations of "Letter to Juliet" in Italy are all distributed on the peninsula, mainly concentrated in Verona on the Adige River and the medieval city of Siena.
The famous drama "Romeo and Juliet" made Verona's name popular all over the world. As the "City of Love", thousands of tourists yearning for love come here every year. Looking for the imprint of Romeo and Juliet.
Sophie and Victor are also among them.
Verona has a long history. It was an important city in the ancient Roman Empire in the first century BC. It is bordered by the Alps to the north, the water city of Venice to the east, and the stretching Adige River ( Adige River flows through the city. At the same time, Verona is also a transportation hub connecting Italy and Europe by rail and highway, and can be called the gateway of Italy.
The word "Verona" means "very elegant city" in Latin.
Looking from the air, you can have a panoramic view of the beautiful scenery.
Piazza delle Erbe began during the Roman Empire and was a gathering place for citizens. Today, there are many shops on both sides of the street, mostly small shops selling flowers, fruits and vegetables.
The buildings in and around the square were all built from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Among them, the fountain sculpture called Madonna Verona is the oldest one - it was built in AD 380.
Piazza Bra is the largest square in Verona and a traditional market and commercial district.
It is surrounded by many famous buildings, such as -
Palazzo Barbieri (Palazzo Barbieri), which is in neoclassical style and serves as Verona's town hall.
The Palazzo della Gran Guardia was built in 1610. After many twists and turns, it took more than two centuries to complete.
But the most famous one is the Arena di Verona (Arena di Verona) built in the first century AD. Its history is older than the Roman Arena.
The Romans built more than 60 arenas during the ancient Roman period. Only one-tenth of them have been preserved in later generations. The Verona Colosseum is the best-preserved one among them. .
Behind Sophie, who was walking in the square, was the figure of the arena.
Like all arenas, it was originally built for animal fighting performances. Today's Verona Colosseum is world-famous for hosting large-scale opera performances. It can accommodate 20,000 people at one time and attracts more than 500,000 tourists every year.
Via Pellicciai is right next to Baicao Square. It is a pedestrian street extending from the square. There are many restaurants and bars on both sides, so that people who are tired from traveling can take a break here.
The arched door frame to the left of Sophie in the picture, east of Fur Street, belongs to the Domus Mercatorum, which was built as early as 1210. In the Middle Ages, it was a gathering place for local business people, and today it is the office of Banca Popolare di Verona.
Scalette San Marco is also near Baicao Square and Fur Street. It meanders through low-rise alleys, and it is quite a "winding path" when walking inside. "Secret" means.
Not surprisingly, the place where Sophie and Vocitor stayed was fictitious - the crew just chose a door on the St. Mark's Staircase as the entrance to the hotel.
The popularity of "Romeo and Juliet" has led many people to mistake it as one of Shakespeare's "four great tragedies". However, although it is not listed among them, it is still comparable to "Hamlet" in it, and both become Shakespeare's most frequently performed plays.
In addition to the frequently staged dramas, film and television works of the same name are also constantly being filmed. The new Oscar-winning actor DiCaprio also played Romeo when he was in his prime.
The most classic version is the 1968 version directed by Italian director Franco Zeffirelli.
In the film, the male and female protagonists, both under the age of 18, restore the romantic relationship between the young Romeo and Juliet to the extreme. During this year's Shanghai International Film Festival, this version was also included in the Shakespeare works screening section.
At night, Juliet expressed her love for Romeo to the sky on the balcony, but he, who was hiding next to her, listened to every word in her heart. After revealing his hiding place, Romeo and Juliet exchanged their feelings across the balcony before dawn.
Such a romantic and legendary story makes Casa di Giulietta a popular attraction in Verona. Sophie, who was separated from Victor, also chose here.
This place is crowded with tourists all year round. Tourists who love drama will also stand on the legendary balcony and perform an impromptu performance; just like in "Letter to Juliet", believers in love will write their thoughts on paper and paste them on the wall.
The difference is——
The woman with a sad past in the movie either sticks the letters on the exterior wall of the two-story building or stuffs them into the gaps between the stone bricks. In fact, the former residence itself only allows visitors to paste their own fragments of words on the corridor of the courtyard gate and the low walls outside the building. In the film, Sophie knocks off the stone bricks on the wall and finds letters inside that have been "dusted for fifty years." This wall was temporarily built by the crew. After all, the cost of "destroying" the real building is too high.
The owner of the letter found in the crack in the wall is Claire. Sophie wrote a reply and sent it. At this time, Claire already had white hair. After receiving the reply, she returned to Verona accompanied by her grandson Charlie.
She stood in the court, recalling the past. The bronze statue of Juliet next to her has stood here for decades.
Just like in the video, it is a bit evil but believed by many tourists that touching the right breast of the bronze statue will bring good luck to one's love and marriage.
The right chest of the bronze statue has also become shiny due to being touched all year round. In recent years, it has become even more worn and in urgent need of repair.
At dusk, the tourists gradually thinned out. Sophie sat in the courtyard and wrote letters to Juliet. A woman suddenly visited and took away the letters on the wall. Sophie hurriedly followed the other party out, wondering where the letter was sent. Finally, I found myself in front of the door with the sign "Trattoria Lettere a Giuilietta". I saw the person who collected the letters met with several other older ladies and walked into the house.
It turns out that these people collected letters written by tourists to Juliet, sorted them into categories, and then wrote a reply letter in the name of Juliet's secretary and sent it to the other party.
In this way, Sophie met "Juliet's secretaries" and joined them.
The restaurant named "Letter to Juliet" does not actually exist. During the filming of the film, the property on the Adige River happened to be vacant, so the crew temporarily built a fictional restaurant here. Dining room. Today, Punto Simply Verona opens on the original site.
But——
Giulietta’s secretaries do exist, they are a group of volunteers from the “Club di Giulietta”.
The name Ettore Solimani is not well known, but he was the first volunteer in the club. He was originally a gravekeeper at Juliet's cemetery. Since 1930, out of his love for Juliet and his consideration for the lovelorn, he would reply to the notes left by some tourists at night.
In the 1990s, Soleimani had retired for many years. Some local enthusiasts in Verona decided to make the act of replying to tourists' letters official and established the "Juliet Club". To this end, the local government decided to provide letter paper and stamps, and the volunteers themselves did not receive any compensation.
Over time, a 48-year-old female dancer, a 55-year-old male photographer, a 21-year-old freelancer, etc. began to appear in the club, slowly forming a team of more than 20 people. At the same time, a special website has also been set up: Juliet Club official website (click to open) -
What is considerate is that there is also a section called "Write to Juliet (write to Juliet)" on the homepage of the club's official website A special channel allows people around the world to write to Juliet remotely via the Internet.
When Claire, like other tourists, received a reply written by Juliet's secretary, it had been fifty years since the day she wrote to Juliet.
In addition to bringing Claire, who was over fifty years old, back to Verona in this long-overdue reply, what else happened? Did the story of Romeo and Juliet really happen in Verona?
Please see the next issue: "Italy is more than just Juliet | Siena"
*Except for copyright reservations, all pictures are from the Internet.