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Trieste
On a map, Trieste faces west, toward the rest of Italy, to which it is connected only by a strip of what would otherwise be Slovenian beachfront just a few miles wide. For many of its traditions—from the Slavic dialects you are likely to hear in the streets to the appearance of goulash and Viennese pastries on its menus— this handsome city of medieval, neoclassical, and modern buildings turns to other parts of Europe, and is more rightly considered a Hapsburgian Adriatic port, more closely tied to Vienna than to Venice.
History
The area of what is now Trieste was settled by the Carni, an Indo-European tribe (whence the name Carso) since the 3rd millennium BC. Subsequently the area was populated by the Histri, an Illyrian people, who remained the main civilization until the 2000 BC, when the Palaeo-Veneti came.
By 177 BC, the city was under the governance of the Roman republic. Trieste was granted the status of a colony under Julius Caesar, who recorded its name as Tergeste in his Commentarii de bello Gallico (51 BC).
After the end of the Western Roman Empire (in 476), Trieste remained a Byzantine military centre. In 788 it became part of the Frank kingdom, under the authority of their count-bishop. From the year 1081 the city came loosely under Aquileia's patriarchy, developing into a free commune at the end of the 12th century. After two centuries of war against the nearby major power, the Republic of Venice (who occupied it briefly from 1369 to 1372), the Triestins donated the city to Leopold III von Habsburg, duke of Austria. The citizens, however, mantained a certain degree of autonomy well until the 17th century.
Trieste had grown into an important port and trade hub. It was constituted a free port by Emperor Charles VI and remained a free port from 1719 until July 1, 1891. The reign of his successor, Maria Theresa of Austria, marked for Trieste in particular the beginning of a flourishing era.
The city was occupied by French troops three times during the Napoleonic Wars, in 1797, 1805 and 1809. In the latter occasion it was annexed to the Illyrian Provinces by Napoleon. In this period Trieste lost in a definitive way its autonomy (even when it was returned to the Austrian Empire in 1813), and status of free port was interrupted.
Following the Napoleonic Wars, Trieste continued to prosper as the Imperial Free City of Trieste (Reichsunmittelbare Stadt Triest) and it became capital of the Austrian Littoral region, the so-called Küstenland. Its role as the principal Austrian commercial port and shipbuilding center was later emphasized by the Foundation of the Austrian Lloyd in 1836 and the construction of the Vienna-Trieste Austrian Southern Railway, completed in 1857.
In the beginning of the 20th century, Trieste was a buzzing cosmopolitan city frequented by artists such as James Joyce, Italo Svevo and Umberto Saba. The city was part of the so-called Austrian Riviera and a very real part of Mitteleuropa. The particular Friulian dialect, called Tergestino, spoken until the beginning of the 19th century, had been gradually supplanted by Triestine (i.e. a Venetian dialect) and other tongues, including Italian, German and Slovenian. While Triestine was the language of the major part of the population, German was the language of the Austrian bureaucracy and Slovenian was the language of the surrounding villages. Viennese architecture and coffeehouses still mark the streets of Trieste today.
Together with Trento, Trieste was the main seat of the irredendist movement, which aimed to the annexion to Italy of all the lands historically inhabited by culturally Italian people. After World War I ended and Austria-Hungary disintegregated, Trieste was transferred to Italy (1920) along with the whole Julian March (Venezia Giulia). The annexion, however, brought a loss of importance for the city, reduced to a border one deprived of a true hinterland. The Slovenian ethnic group (forming about the 25% of the population) was also suppressed by the Fascist Regime. This led to a period of inner strain which culminated on April 13, 1920, when a group of Italian nationalists burnt the Narodni dom (National House), the cultural centre of Trieste's Slovenians.
After the constitution of the Italian Social Republic, on September 23, 1943, Trieste was nominally absorbed into this entity. The Germans, however, annexed it to an Adriatic Littoral Operation Zone, which included also Gorizia and Ljubljana and was led by Austrian Friedrich Rainer. Under the Nazi occupation, the sole extermination camp on Italian soil was constructed near Trieste, at the Risiera di San Sabba, on April 4, 1944. The city also suffered from the partisan activity and from Allied bombardments.
On April 30, 1945 the Italian anti-fascist Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale (CLN) of don Marzari and Fonda Savio, with 3500 volunteers, incited a revolt against the Nazis. On May, 1 Yugoslav (predominantly Slovene, with some Croat and Croatian Serb) partisans of Tito's army arrived and occupied most of Trieste. The 2nd New Zealand Division continued its advance along Route 14 around the north coast of the Adriatic to Trieste and arrived to the city on the very next day. The German forces eventually capitulated in the evening of May 2.
The Yugoslavs quickly began forming their own (Communist) military administration. They began to execute arrests against the population, also against the Italian democratic resistance force, the CLN (see Foibe massacres). On May 5, 1945 the Yugoslavs fired on a pro-Italian demonstration, killing at least five people. Yugoslav troops had to leave the city on June 12 under pressure from the New Zealand Second Division.
In 1947, Trieste became an independent state as the Free Territory of Trieste. This state was de facto dissolved in 1954: the city of Trieste went to Italy, while the southern part of the territory went to Yugoslavia. The annexation to Italy was officially proclaimed on October 26 of that year.
The border questions with Yugoslavia and the status of the ethnic minorities were settled definitively in 1975 with the Treaty of Osimo. |
Main monuments
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St. Giusto |
This hilltop basilica is one of several remarkable buildings atop the Capitoline Hill, which is littered with Roman ruins, evidence of the city’s long history as an important port. In fact, the cathedral’s squat, 14th-century campanile rises from the ruins of a first-century A.D. Roman temple. Pleasingly asymmetrical, the cathedral is dedicated to Saint Just, Trieste’s patron. It incorporates two 5th-century Romanesque basilicas, one already dedicated to San Giusto, the other to Santa Maria Assunta. You’ll see what remains of both as you step inside: The two right-hand aisles belong to the original San Giusto, the two left-hand aisles to Santa Maria Assunta, and in the center is the 14th-century nave that was added to bring them together. The apse mosaics at the ends of the aisles are from the 13th century; those in the main apse date from 1932.
Piazza Cattedrale 3, Colle Capitolino
tel. 040-302-874 or 040-309-666
Bus: 24
Free admission
Daily 8:30am–noon and 4–7pm |
The san Giusto Castle |
The tall walls of this bastion, built between 1470 and 1630, rise just behind the cathedral. Within the walls are an open-air theater, the Cortile delle Milizie, where a summer film-and-concert festival is held, and a museum. But it’s the walls that steal the show. A walk along them affords pleasant views over Trieste and the Adriatic, making this a popular spot just before its sunset closing time. The Civic Museum provides an interesting if not profound experience—among a series of period rooms is a “Venetian chamber” filled with antique chests, 17th-century Flemish tapestries, and other furnishings—as does the Appartamento del Capitano, the residence of the castle’s 18th-century commander. A collection of antique weaponry is housed in the rooms of the castle watch.
Piazza Cattedrale, Colle Capitolino
Bus: 24
Tel. 040-309-362
Castle ramparts 1€, Civico Museo del Castello 2€, For those under 14 and over 60, 1€ covers both
Castle
Apr–Sept daily 9am–7pm;
Oct–Mar daily 9am–5pm
Museum Tues–Sun 9am–1pm |
S. Nicolo' |
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S. Antonio |
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S. Maria maggiore |
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Castle of Miramare |
This vision of gleaming white turrets looms over the coast north of the city, 7km from the center. Archduke Maximilian, brother of Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph, built this castle in the late 1850s when he was sent to Trieste to command the Austrian Navy. The interior reflects the somewhat insipid royal taste of the day, with room after room of gilt and velvet. Far more romantic are the adjoining gardens, where oaks, firs, and cypresses sway in sea breezes. Alluring, too, is the legend that those who sleep in the castle will meet a violent end, a belief to which history has given some credence—the same Maximilian went to Mexico in 1864 to assume the brief role of Emperor and was shot there in 1867; Archduke Ferdinand spent the night here before journeying to Sarajevo, where he was assassinated on the eve of World War I; and a later owner, Duke Amadeo of Austria, was also assassinated in 1938
Via Miramare, Grignano
Tel. 040-224-143 or 040-224-7013
Castle 4€ adults, 2€ ages 18–24, free for children under 18 and seniors over 65; grounds free.
English-language tours available for 21€ for 1–10 people.
Castle: Daily 9am–7pm; last admission 30 min. before close.
Grounds: Apr–Sept daily 8am–7pm; Mar and Oct daily 8am–6pm; Nov–Feb daily 8am–5pm.
Bus: 36 (catch at train station)
Parking .50€ per hour, or free along road and walk 5 min.
Oct–Mar admission to the Castello after 5pm is from Viale dei Lecci only |
Propilei and Basilica romana |
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Roman Theatre |
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S. Silvestro |
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S. Spiridione |
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Museums
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Museo Revoltella |
Palazzo Revoltella was built between 1852 and 1858(designed by architect Hitzig), but is has been recently transformed to fulfil the new needs of the museum according to a design by architect Carlo Scapa. The Art gallery offers a rich outlook of 19th-20th centuries Central European art, while the sculpture section includes works by Canova, Manzù, Massina, pomodoro, and by some local artists like, Capolino, Mayer, Selva and Mirko and Dino Basaldella
Via Diaz, 27 - Trieste
Tel. 040.300938 – 040.311361
Open in time
Every day: 10.00-13.00/15.00-19.00
Closed on Tuesday
Entrance fee € 5.16
Reducted fee € 3.10
Free for kids up to 5 y.o. |
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History