Dante, that celebrated student of human happiness, would have strolled through the piazza many times, having arrived in Verona in exile from his native Florence in 1301. His host, the Can Grande della Scala, kept various apartments for visitors including one called Hope and another called Paradise.
Wandering through this area of the city is a rewarding experience: gnarled old doors, glimpses of hidden courtyard gardens, little family-run delicatessens on street corners and restaurants like the highly recommended Antica Bottega del Vino where they splash a mouthful of local prosecco in your glass on arrival.
The big draw, however, is Juliet's balcony, where would-be Romeos can still croon to the objects of their desire, with an audience of several hundred others. Compare that to the trickle of visitors who make it across the Ponte Nuovo to Giardino Giusti.
And add the fact that everyone knows that this is not Juliet's house and that every guidebook tells us that it is not the right house. But unlike those gardens, the paradise of true love, it seems, can conquer problems of historical inaccuracy, it never withers and most of all, it never gets bought out by redevelopers.
Further information: Italian Tourist Board (enit.it) and verona.com.
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