How Much Was It Touched? The 10-Year Damage to Italy's Juliet Statue...

Damaged After 10 Years Since Replacement

The bronze statue of Juliet in Verona, northern Italy, is suffering due to rumors that "touching it will make love come true."

"You will find love with your destined person"... Juliet bronze statue faces humiliation

Tourists placing their hands on the right breast of the Juliet bronze statue and taking commemorative photos. [Image source: Italy ANSA news agency capture]

On the 7th (local time), La Rena, a local newspaper in Verona, the setting of Shakespeare's famous tragedy "Romeo and Juliet," recently reported that a hole was found on the right breast of the Juliet bronze statue. The hole is only a few millimeters in size and very small, but there are concerns that the hole will gradually enlarge over time.

In fact, the current bronze statue is a replica made due to a similar problem. The original Juliet bronze statue, created in 1972, also developed a hole in the breast area and was replaced with the current replica in 2014. This means the same problem occurred within just 10 years on a bronze statue with a lifespan of about 50 years. The reason this problem keeps recurring is due to the rumor that touching the right breast of the Juliet bronze statue will bring love with one's destined person. It is estimated that countless tourists from around the world have worn it down by touching the statue.

Despite controversies over gender discrimination, maintained as a tourist attraction... The statue has no relation to the original work

The media reported that even at the time of the replacement in 2014, there was heated debate over whether to allow people to touch the Juliet statue. There were strong criticisms that touching the right breast of the Juliet bronze statue was a vulgar act of gender discrimination. However, the Verona city government did not impose any restrictions as the Juliet bronze statue became a representative tourist attraction of the city. Thanks to that, the Juliet bronze statue is still surrounded daily by hundreds, sometimes thousands, of visitors. Most of them place their hands on the right breast of the Juliet statue and take commemorative photos.

However, in fact, the Juliet bronze statue and the "Juliet's House" where the statue stands are said to have no connection to Juliet from Shakespeare's original "Romeo and Juliet." The Verona city authorities selected a house similar in atmosphere to the one in the work and named it "Juliet's House," and the Juliet bronze statue was created from the artist's imagination.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.