Trieste , is located right at the border with Slovenia and is one of the most interesting and wonderful cities to visit in Italy. For centuries the place was at the crossroads, under different rules and influences that created a peculiar cosmopolitan city. It has 200 thousand inhabitants and it is the capital of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region.

Interesting facts about Trieste

1. Trieste’s history is connected with Austria. During the Habsburg rule, Trieste was the main port of the Austrian empire, its window to the world. Many of the grand Trieste monuments are from that era and are a perfect testimony to the times of prosperity.

Trieste became part of Italy only in the 20th century and t0day the city is this unique blend of different cultures and influences. The city has a lot of monuments and attractions but is also a good base to explore more of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region as well as nearby Slovenia.

If you are familiar with other Italian cities you will see that Trieste is so different from the rest of Italy as it is physically isolated from the rest of the Italian peninsula. As a result, it preserves its own unique border-town fascinating culture.

2. Scala dei Giganti: “Staircase of the Giants” is a monumental staircase near the waterfront ,  connecting the centre with the coastal area. Its wide stone staircase is decorated with statues of mythological figures and giants such as Neptune, Hercules and Diana.

3. Canale Grande: the Canale Grande is a picturesque canal running through the centre’s heart. It has colourful buildings, cafes and small shops, providing a pleasant background for easy walks.

4. Piazza Unità d’Italia: is the focal point of the city centre and one of the largest seafront squares in Europe. Remarkable buildings, cafes and restaurants surround it.

The square was built during the period when Trieste was the most important seaport of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and includes the city’s municipal buildings and other important palaces.

5. Trieste is also the city of coffee. A free port for coffee imports from the 18th century onwards, the port of Trieste is still the busiest in the Mediterranean. In Trieste, coffee goes with literature: the city has numerous beautiful literary cafés with a retro charm , that were once the haunt of great novelists such as James Joyce, Italo Svevo and Umberto Saba. Taking a break in one of Trieste’s old cafés is an unmissable experience.

6. Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi is a traditional theater dated to 19th century and a symbol of the city. It is Trieste’s main opera and ballet theater.

Its consists 2 auditoriums, the Sala del Teatro Verdi and the Sala Ridotto. It copies the architecture of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, built by Giuseppe Piermarini.  Melodramas, dances, comedies and dramas have all been performed at the Teatro Lirico, which has hosted the greatest musicians such as Rossini, Bellini and the works of Maestro Verdi. 

7. Visit the Roman Amphitheater , the Teatro Romano which was built in the first and second centuries AD. It is located behind the Piazza Unità d’Italia at the base of the San Giusto hill and it still hosts concerts and shows during the summer. Excavated in the 1930s, the amphitheater is the best preserved construction from Roman times you can see in Trieste.

8. Trieste Cathedral, dedicated to Saint Justus, is a Roman Catholic cathedral and the main church of Trieste, in northern Italy. The current appearance of the basilica derives from the unification of two previous churches which were incorporated under one roof between the years 1302 and 1320. In 1899, Pope Leo XIII granted it the status of a basilica minor. Trieste Cathedral is the seat of the Bishop of Trieste.

9. The Risiera di San Sabba served as a Nazi concentration camp during World War II which nowadays is a museum honoring the victims of the Holocaust.

10. Located at the entrance of the port , The Victory Lighthouse stands as a symbol of the city.

The Trieste’s Victory lighthouse, an impressive work of the triestine architect Arduino Berlam (1880-1946) and the sculptor Giovanni Mayer (1863-1943), has two important functions. Besides lighting the Gulf of Trieste, in order to help navigation, it is a commemorative monument dedicated to the fallen of the first world war.

The idea of building this lighthouse arose already in 1918. The Mount of Gretta was chosen since it provided a very good emplacement at 60 m. above sea-level and solid foundations in the round earthwork of the former Austrian fort Kressich, built between 1854 and 1857.

The lighthouse is made up by a large base that includes the earthwork of the Austrian fort and, externally, is covered by blocks of stone from Carso and from lstria.