The true story of Romeo and Juliet from the Spanish Teruel

It is unlikely that there will be at least someone who does not know the tragedy of W. Shakespeare about Romeo and Juliet, that's just the fiction of all this, but the fiction is so bright that in Verona, where the events take place, even sights appeared in their honor. But there was a real story, which perhaps Shakespeare took as a basis. This is the story of lovers from Teruel.

This story happened in a mountainous region of Spain at the very beginning of the 13th century. The lovers were called Diego Martinez and Isabella Segura. And they came from two noble families of the city. They spent their childhood and youth together. But only when it was time for the wedding, the family of Marciglia, to which Diego belonged, was going through hard times, and Isabella's father did not want to tie family ties to an impoverished family. Then Diego offered his beloved father a contract - he will leave the city for 5 years to make a fortune, and if he succeeds, then Isabella will marry him.

However, after Diego's departure, the girl’s father still tried to pass off her daughter for another. But she insisted that she would not get married before 20 years, because in order to become a good wife, she needed to learn a lot. The father loved his daughter and wished her happiness, so he agreed. But after 5 years, he still gave her in marriage. The day after the wedding, Diego returned to Teruel as a very wealthy man (having become rich during the Crusades).

That night, Diego entered the newlyweds' bedroom and began to beg Isabella to kiss him, but she refused to cheat on her husband and asked him to find another. Diego died of unrequited love right at the bed of his beloved.

Isabella woke her husband and told him the whole story from beginning to end. Together, they decided to secretly bury Diego. Isabella came to the funeral in a wedding dress, kissed her lover and fell dead by his body.

Through marble carvings, mummies can be seen, they are asked not to be removed.

Many similar stories have appeared since then, but this was one of the first and most famous. Perhaps it was Shakespeare who heard her. Over time, a mausoleum of lovers was created in Teruel, where people from all over the world came to see the heroes of this story. The mummified bodies of lovers lie there now, in the church of St. Peter, built in the 16th century.