4.1.6 The Famous Virtual Characters’ Residences
Interestingly, the former residence is not only a commemoration of famous historic personalities existed in reality.The characters in novels or plays even have their homes in the real world.This kind of former residence is laid out according to the description in the text, for those fans to visit and experience.
Figure 4-12.Holmes’s Memorial Residence in London
4.1.6.1 Sherlock Holmes Memorial in London
There are many famous historical persons’ residences in the UK, but Sherlock Holmes house is special, because Holmes is not a real person, but a character created by the British detective novelist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.According to the address of the fictional residence described in the novels, people created the residence of Holmes and his assistant Watson (Fig.4-12).Although the Sherlock Holmes Memorial residence is small in scale, it is completely constructed to represent the scenes described in the novel.In addition to the bedroom, there is a room used by Holmes to think about the cases he solves.The table is littered with tools he used in solving cases.There are two seats in front of the fireplace swaying in the light of charcoal fire, seemingly waiting for Holmes to sit in the chair with his iconic pipe, thinking about a new case (Fig.4-13).
Figure 4-13.Interior of Holmes’s Residence
4.1.6.2 Romeo House and Juliet House in Verona
Verona, located in northern Italy, has numerous well-preserved ancient castles, churches and the exquisite medieval architecture.But Verona is popular in the world mostly because of the British writer Shakespeare’s masterpiece Romeo and Juliet.The Romeo House and Juliet House are located here in Shakespeare’s writing.(https://www.daowen.com)
The Romeo’s house is a castle-like building with a red earthen wall and an unadorned appearance.It does not have many decorations, yet is well matched with other buildings on the street.On the left side of the gate is engraved: Casa di Montague.The right side is lined with words from Romeo and Juliet.
Juliet’s house is located near the vanilla square in the city center.This is an old building built in the 13th century, with a high walled courtyard and a circular arch.The city government bought this old mansion and renovated it to represent the former residence of Juliet.The entrance is marked Casa di Giulietta.The room displays the furniture and daily necessities of the family.In the second floor of the residence, a circle of glass table cabinets with pictures drawn by famous painters of various periods according to the story of Romeo and Juliet are displayed meticulously.Different styles express the Artist’s understanding and recreation of Shakespeare’s characters.According to the theme of different rooms, the plot in the book extends throughout.In the courtyard stands a bronze statue of Juliet.The most prominent location of the house is the balcony where Romeo and Juliet saw each other (Fig.4-14).Tourists are keen to take pictures on the balcony, and the red brick wall of the courtyard is covered with love letters left by tourists.The local government organized a ‘Juliet Club’.Love letters from all over the world can be answered on behalf of Juliet by volunteers from the Juliet Club (Fig.4-15).
Figure 4-14.Juliet’s Residence in Verona
Figure 4-15.Juliet’s Mailbox
To some extent, from the phenomenon of creating the residences in the real world for virtual characters, it can be seen that historic personalities’ former residences as local cultural resources are a powerful motive for establishing local cultural identity and promoting the local economy.
residences all over county, such as Confucius Residence, QuYuan Birthplace, Wang Xizhi House, Mao Zedong House, Zhou Enlai House, Sun Yat-sen House and Lu Xun House.Confucius Residence and corresponding historic buildings in Qufu city were identified as a World Cultural Heritage in 1994.Among them, the Lu Xun House has an excellent preservation and development.