Verona is the main setting of Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare places the feud between the Montague and Capulet households in this northern Italian city, where public streets, family homes, and religious spaces bring the characters into repeated conflict.
The action later moves to Mantua, where Romeo is exiled after killing Tybalt. That change of location is important because Mantua is where Romeo hears the false news of Juliet’s death and where he obtains the poison used in the tomb. The final scenes return to Verona, especially the Capulet tomb.
Verona had a strong association with romance and medieval Italian storytelling before Shakespeare’s play. Today, sites in the city are marketed as “Juliet” locations, including a building known as Juliet’s House, but the historical existence of Shakespeare’s lovers has not been established. The play’s Verona is therefore a literary setting rather than a documented account of real people.