What happens to the thousands of letters sent to Juliet each year in search of answers to love's complexities? Giovanna Montalbetti pays a visit to the Italian city of Verona to find out The story of Romeo and Juliet, the two young lovers from opposing families whose tragic deaths mark for many the epitome of romantic suffering, has moved audiences worldwide for centuries since Shakespeare dramatised it in his play of the same name at the end of the 16th century. Less well known, however, is the fact that Juliet, whose home city was Verona in northern Italy, today receives thousands of letters from the lovelorn worldwide asking for her advice, or simply asking her to share the writer's suffering and romantic pain. The story of these letters begins in the 1930s when Ettore Solimani was hired as the custodian of Juliet's tomb. Having a romantic heart, he planted rosebushes and a willow tree at the tomb and trained two dozen white doves to fly around the cloister and land on the shoulders of female visitors. One day he discovered a letter from a broken-hearted woman who was in despair because her husband had left her. His kind heart moved, Solimani answered her letter with words of advice and comfort, unaware he was laying the foundations for a tradition that has continued until the present day. For the rest of his time as custodian of the tomb, Solimani answered all the letters that appeared addressed to Juliet, Juliet's answers -- his answers -- becoming a beacon to guide those lost in love's darkest impasses. Today, such letters are answered by the Juliet Club, an organisation that was founded 30 years ago and now answers all letters received by Juliet, most of them addressed simply, "To Juliet, Verona". Located in a quiet area of the city, the club is run by volunteers from diverse backgrounds. While Verona's city government helps with stationary and postage, the club's main resource is its members' warmth and kindness. On the day of Al-Ahram Weekly 's visit, Giulio Tamassia, president of the Juliet Club, was there to meet us, together with some of Juliet's many "secretaries", including Elena Marchi, Carlotta di Colloredo, Marinella Fedrigoli, Manuela Uber and Giovanna Tamassia. Romeo, the club's cat, was also in evidence. Tamassia explained the club's policy in simple terms, saying that it aims to give hope to those who need it, helping them to trust themselves and to trust their own feelings. With thousands of letters arriving each year, club volunteers work hard to answer each and every one of them, sometimes consulting each other when a case is particularly difficult. When a letter arrives in a language that none of the volunteers understand, they look elsewhere for help with translation. All in all, the volunteers devote much of their free time to ensuring that no letter sent to Juliet goes unanswered, the letters arriving from all over the world, many of them from the USA and France, but also from Algeria, Morocco, Egypt, China and South America. While Juliet can now also be contacted by e-mail (there is a set of computers for this purpose in Juliet's house), most letters still arrive by conventional mail. According to the Juliet Club members who spoke to the Weekly, love and its problems have not changed much in thousands of years, and the fact that most of the letters tell of sadness seems to support their claim. A wide range of people write to Juliet for advice, but many of the most troubled arrive from teenagers desperate for answers to their questions about love's complexities. More women than men ask for advice. Asked whether they could remember the age of the youngest person who has got in touch with them, Juliet's secretaries smile. "It was a six-year-old girl," one of them answered. "She asked how someone could know whether he or she was in love." Looking at some of the very elaborate letters received by the club, it can be hard to believe that the correspondents really expect all aspects of their letters to be answered. Indeed, club members say that some correspondents use pseudonyms as a way of distancing themselves from their problems and easing their burdens. The comfort they receive on getting an answer can also be doubled in this way. Sometimes Juliet Club members receive small tokens of appreciation to thank them for their help, and sometimes they get feedback from letter writers telling them how their particular problems were resolved and how their lives are now continuing. They have thus far never received a letter of complaint. The Juliet Club gives an award to the best love letter of the year, though this is awarded anonymously to respect correspondents' privacy. While this award is in no sense designed as a competition, the club does sponsor some prizes, including a painting competition and a literary prize. They also have a magazine and help to organise the city's mediaeval fair, which is celebrated every year on 16 September -- Juliet's birthday according to the original story written by Luigi da Porto and used by Shakespeare. While Juliet may have died for love, her club lives on to help others reach a happier ending. Valentine's Day facts THE OLDEST known Valentine's card is on display at the British Museum in London. Some 188 million Valentine's Day cards are exchanged annually in the United States. In 2008, Saudi Arabia's religious police banned the sale of all Valentine's Day items, telling shop owners to remove all red items as they consider the Day to be un-Islamic. In South Korea, women give chocolate to men on 14 February, and men give sweets to women on 14 March. On 14 April, called "Black Day", anyone who did not receive either chocolate or sweets eats black noodles in mourning for their single life. In Brazil, the Dia dos Mamorados, or day of the lovers, is celebrated on 12 June. The US Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion Valentine's Day cards are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. Women purchase about 85 per cent of all cards. Valentine's Day is also referred to as Single Awareness Day. In 2007, a group of Al-Azhar University students suggested that the name of Valentine's Day be changed to Prophet Mohamed's Day. In Finland, the day translates as "Friend's Day", and is all about remembering your friends rather than your loved ones.
