Romeo and Tybalt Duel

Following the plot of Romeo and Juliet, our guided tour arrives on Corso Cavour. On the facade of Palazzo Carlotti, a massive baroque building, a commemorative plaque and a bronze bas-relief recall the duel between Romeo and Tybalt.

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However, the literary reference in this case is not Shakespeare, but Matteo Bandello, a Lombard author who, thirty years before the Bard, narrated the tragic events of the two Veronese lovers. Once less worried about spoilers, the title of the novella is: "The piteous death of two ill-fortuned lovers who died, the one of poison and the other of giref, with various circumstances there-unto appertaining".

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Historical and literary events

During the festival-time of the Resurrection, it chanced that many men of the Capelletti faction encountered some of the Montecchi upon the horse-course near the Borsari Gate, looking towards Castel Vecchio, and fiercely assailed them with arms.

Porta Borsari

Matteo Bandello in his story inserts detailed and accurate descriptions of the places in Verona where the various scenes of the story take place. The fight between the Capulets and the Montagues, in which Mercutio dies and Romeo kills Tybalt in revenge, takes place on what is now Corso Cavour but was once called Corso Castelvecchio. It is the old section of the ancient Roman Postumia road, which from Erbe square goes towards the Scala family castle. In the middle is one of the old Roman gates of the city: the Borsari gate mentioned by the author.

Palazzo Carlotti

The author also specifies that the fight takes place on the side where the castle is, therefore where, some centuries later, Palazzo Carlotti was built, an imposing building in the sober Veronese baroque style.
We do not know what was in its place at the beginning of the 1300s. Maybe a simple dirt widening where the duel could have taken place.

The Bas-relief

Right on the facade of Palazzo Carlotti it has been placed a bas-relief that recalls the dramatic episode of the story, from which the tragedy unfold. The plaque clearly shows the Borsari gate in the background. It was the Juliet's Club that installed it. Juliet's Club is a cultural association that for years has been promoting the image of Verona as the city of Romeo and Juliet through events and commemorative plaques placed on building and squares somehow related to the story.

On Romeo and Juliet's footsteps

Our Romeo and Juliet's tour is an original and suggestive way to visit Verona. Ask a tour guide to accompany you to discover the Shakespearean places in Verona.