45°39N 13°47E, pop (2000e) 255 000. Seaport and capital town of Trieste province, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, NE Italy, on the Adriatic coast; largest port in the Adriatic; capital of Free Territory of Trieste, established by the United Nations in 1947, divided in 1954 between Italy and Yugoslavia; airport; railway; university (1938); shipbuilding and repairing, oil refining, spirits and liqueurs, banking and finance, medical research, pharmaceuticals; birthplace of Italo Svevo; town hall (1876), Cathedral of San Giusto (14th-c), Church of Sant'Antonio (1849), castle (14th17th-c), Roman theatre; International Trade Fair (JunJul).
| Comune di Trieste | |
|---|---|
|
Municipal coat of arms |
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| Country | Italy |
| Region | Friuli-Venezia Giulia |
| Province | Trieste (TS) |
| Mayor | Roberto Dipiazza (since 2001) |
| Elevation | 2 m |
| Area | 84 km² |
| Population | |
| - Total (as of December 31, 2004) | 207,069 |
| - Density | 2,480/km² |
| Time zone | CET, UTC+1 |
| Coordinates | 45°38′N 13°48′E |
| Gentilic | Triestini |
| Dialing code | 040 |
| Postal code | 34100 |
| Frazioni | See list |
| Patron | San Giusto |
| - Day | November 3 |
| Website: www.comune.trieste.it | |
Trieste ( Slovenian/Croatian Trst) is a city and port in northeastern Italy right on the border with Slovenia. Trieste is located at the head of the Gulf of Trieste on the Adriatic Sea.
Trieste flourished as part of Austro-Hungarian Empire during the period 1867 – 1918 when it was Central Europe's prosperous Mediterranean seaport and its capital of literature and music.
Today, Trieste is a border town. The dominant local Venetian dialect of Trieste is called Triestine ("Triestin" - pronounced /triˈɛstin/, in Italian "Triestino").
Places of touristic interest in Trieste include numerous examples of Art Nouveau and neoclassical architecture from its Austrian past, the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, International School for Advanced Studies and the Trieste University.
History
Ancient era and the Middle Ages
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.
After the end of the Western Roman Empire (in 476), Trieste remained a Byzantine military centre.
Modern age
Trieste had grown into an important port and trade hub. 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.
Annexation to Italy
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.
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).
Second World War
After the constitution of the Italian Social Republic, on September 23, 1943, Trieste was nominally absorbed into this entity. 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.
Yugoslav and New Zealand involvement
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. 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.
Italian city
In 1947, Trieste became an independent state as the Free Territory of Trieste and was governed for several years by Sir Terence Airey. 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.
Main sights
Castles
Castle of Miramare
The Castle was built from 1856 to 1860 to a design by Carl Junker on the orders of Archduke Maximilian.
Features of particular attraction in the gardens include two ponds, one noted for its swans and the other for lotus flowers, the Castle annexe ("Castelletto"), a nearby a bronze statue of Maximilian, and a small chapel in which is kept a cross made from the remains of the "Novara", the flagship on which Maximilian, brother of Emperor Franz Josef, set sail to become Emperor of Mexico.
Castle of San Giusto
Designed on the remains of previous castles on the site, it took almost two centuries to build. A walk on the Castle ramparts and bastions gives a complete panorama of the city of Trieste, its hills and the sea. Basilica Forense (2nd century) Palaeochristian basilica
Roman theatre
Trieste or Tergeste, which probably dates back to the protohistoric period, was enclosed by walls built in 33-32 BC on Emperor Octavius’s orders.
Caves
In the whole Trieste province there are 10 speleological groups (24 in Friuli-Venezia Giulia). The Trieste uphill (Altopiano Triestino), the geographical area of the Carso placed in the Italian territory (an area of roughly 200 km²), guess approximately 1500 caves of different size (67 more than 99 m deep). The Trieste Joyce Museum
Literature
Many famous writers lived and created their major works in Trieste.
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