The Castles of Romeo and Juliet

n the province of Vicenza, in the small town of Montecchio Maggiore, there are two castles that look at each other from two hills close to each other... According to a legend spread in the mid-nineteenth century, Luigi da Porto, when writing his Historia novellamente ritrovata - which William Shakespeare based himself upon when writing the tragedy Romeo and Juliet - was inspired by these two castles located not far from his villa in Montorso Vicentino. Today the two fortresses are called 'the Castles of Romeo and Juliet'.