Every year, the city of Verona, the place associated with Shakespeare’s famous love story Romeo and Juliet, receives thousands of confiding letters from hearts aching for love to Juliet.
Sending letters to Juliet has been a tradition for centuries.
Every year, more than 6,000 letters are sent to the Juliet Club.
The Juliet Club’s office is located in a small building on the outskirts of Verona and is comprised of about 15 volunteers who call themselves `Juliet’s secretaries`.
Elena Marchi – one of `Juliet’s secretaries` said that their work is extremely serious.
Since its inception, the Juliet Club has truly promoted identity and contributed greatly to promoting the image of the city of Verona – the hometown of Romeo and Juliet.
Giovanna Tamassi – manager of the Juliet Club and `Juliet’s secretaries`.
Marchi said they used their own experiences to respond to the letters.
Juliet Club manager Giovanna Tamassi said: `At the beginning of every letter, people often write ‘Dear Juliet, you are the only one who can understand my feelings’, which sounds very lovely.`
Despite having to read letters from broken hearts every day, many `Juliet’s secretaries` continue their volunteer work for many years, some even for decades.