Entries about trieste

Trieste is a city in northeastern Italy. It is situated between the Adriatic Sea and Slovenia. It is also located near Croatia.

This city is worth a stop of a couple of days or more if you are going to Slovenia or to Croatia. You could even choose it as a base to do explore some towns or villages in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region.

It is possible and easy to go to various destinations in eastern Europe from Trieste, by coach. There are coaches to several places in Croatia, Slovenia, Romania and to other countries departing from the bus station in Trieste.

The bus station is situated at piazza della Libertà . It is just some meters from the railway station. This station is not a nice place, but there is a convenient cafe and some shops inside.

I visited Trieste lots of time and also a week ago.

Piazza dell' Unità d' Italia is the main square in Trieste. It is surrounded by several palaces built mostly in the 19th century.

Among these you can see the town hall; built in 1875. The government palace (1904-1905); with mosaics and a loggia and Palazzo Stratti that houses a historical cafe named Caffe degli Specchi.

This square is very large and opens to the sea.

Opposite the town hall there is a huge fountain; the fountain of the four continents. It was built between 1751 and 1754. Here are represented four continents, because the fifth; Australia wasn' t discovered at that time yet.

When I visit Trieste I like to explore the old town. I mean the area around piazza Cavana which is very near piazza dell' Unità  d' Italia. This is an area with a maze of streets and very old buildings. You can also find some Roman remains there.

Piazza Cavana; the square you see in this picture, was previously named piazza del Sale (i. e. salt square) until 1829, because of a salt storeroom which was situated at the end of this square.

There are various shops, cafes and restaurants in this neighbourhood.

There is even a Roman arch in the old town; the Arco di Riccardo. It was built in the I century B. C.

Here you see another Roman find. It is at Cavana area as well.

Landscape over part of the city. I took this pic from an upper area of the old core.

There are several palaces built in Liberty style in this city.

Here you see part of another palace built in Liberty style.

Borgo Teresiano is a neighbourhood characterized by grid like streets. It was built on the place where the salt pans were situated. This area was built on order by the Austrian emperor Charles VI and completed by her daughter Maria Teresa in the 1800' s.

Here you can see the Canal Grande; built between 1750 and 1756. It is bordered by several palaces; by the church of saint Antonio Nuovo, several cafes, restaurants and shops.

In this picture you see a statue of the Irish writer James Joyce. He lived for some time in Trieste.

I spotted this stone face on the bridge you see in the previous picture.

This is Palazzo Gopcevich. It houses the Civico Museo Teatrale Carlo Shmidl. It is a museum related to the theatre.

The Serbian ortodox church was built on the site of a previous church that was used both by the Greek and the Serbian communities in the '700. It was opened in 1868.

It is surmounted by five light blue domes; one large and four smaller.

Inside the church you can see the iconostasis; that is a group of icons partly covered in gold and silver. This was built in Russia at the beginning of the ' 800.

A silver chandelier that was a present by Paolo Petrovich; (future tsar Paul I) when he visited Trieste in 1772 is another highlight of this church. Many other beautiful work of art will surely catch your attention inside this church.

Here you see another cupola inside the church.

Bar pasticceria Urbanis is a budget restaurant where I usually have lunch when I am in Trieste. It is also a meeting place where people go to have an aperitivo (a drink taken before meals).

Urbanis is an historic cafe, but it is modern furnished.

At Urbanis ' they have a menu. but they also serve a menu of the day. Here food is really cheap. Drinks served at the table are expensive.

There is another restaurant I strongly recommend; "La Vecia Maniera". It is located directly on the canale Ponterosso (see; Borgo teresiano).

Here they serve several typical dishes and also Italian ones.

This restaurant is at n. 5 in via Bellini.

Another church worth a visit in Trieste is the Greek ortodox church of saint Nicholas. It was built between 1784 and 1787 and completed in 1821.

This church has a single nave and its light comes from some small windows and chandeliers. For this reason it is not easy to take picutes inside.

Into this church you can see the iconostasis with several icons and several paintings.

The nave is overlooked by two balconies. The lower one was once set for women; the upper one was reserved for the choir.

There is a good number of museums in Trieste. I' d recommend to visit Museo Revoltella. This is a modern art museum.

The original palace which houses this museum was built between 1854 and 1858. It was owned by the baron Pasquale Revoltella (1795 - 1869) who was an entrepeneur and a financier.

In the 60' s of the last century two other palaces where added to this one to form a modern art museum with around 350 paintings and sculptures. Here many masterpieces by Italian and foreigner artists are on display.

On the ground floor of this palace there is the library. The first floor houses the baron Revoltella' s private aparments. The second floor was used for parties and banquets. Here you can see the dining room, the ball room and some other rooms.

Sircelli is a cafe confectionery I usually visit around 5 p. m. when I visit Trieste. It was opened in 1933 as a bakery. Some years ago it was enlarged and completely refurbished. Unfortunately this cafe is quite small, so sometimes it is not easy to find a seat here.

Here you can find a large selection of pastries, cakes, some savoury food as pizza by the slice and various kinds of bread filled with cold cuts.

A piece of prestniz at Sircelli' s. It is a typical Triestine cake.

I like their apple pie and the pastry with pear and chocolate.

There is a nice long promenade not far from Sircelli' s. Viale XX Settembre. This tree lined street links via Carducci with Il Giulia Shopping Center. It is bordered by lots of cafes, eateries and shops. There are even some cinemas here. Amost all this street is car free.

This is one of the cinemas in viale XX Settembre; the Eden Theater; now Ambasciatori cinema.

If you are in the mood to walk for some miles from this promenade you can get to a beautiful park.

The name of this park is Giardino Pubblico Muzio de Tomasini; also called; Giardino Pubblico.

There is small lake and lots of statues about famous Triestine people.

This park was laid out between 1854 and 1864. There are lots of kinds of trees and a playground area.

One of the main sights in Trieste is saint Justus cathedral. It is located on a hill overlooking Trieste.

Towards the middle of the V century there was a basilica on the site of this cathedral. It replaced a Roman temple.

This church was probably destroyed in the IX century. Between the IX and the X century two churches were built on its site. In the XIV century these were joined to form the cathedral you see today.

There are three mosaics and some frescoes inside this church.

The mosaic on the apse on the left; date to the beginning of the XII century. These depict the Madonna, the angels Gabriel, Michael and apostles.

The mosaic on the apse on the right date around the XIII century. Here you see Christ with saints Justus and saint Servolo. On the central apse there is a mosaic made in 1932.

I like this chapel a lot!

Next to the cathedral you can see the castle. What we see today is a large construction built between 1468 and1636.

It is thought there was an early bronze age hillfort around 2000 BC at the place of this castle.

In the Middle Age the Venetian built another fortress. It was destroyed in the XIV century.

From 1468 to 1471 Fredrick III of Absburg built another constuction on that site. Other works were made by the Venetians between 1508 and 1509. The castle was completed in 1630.

The museum inside the castle is made up of a furnished room and the Casa del Capitano. This is the oldest building in the castle. It houses a collection of weaponry, some furniture and other things.

Temporary exibitions are held at the castle. Inside the castle courtyard various concerts and shows are held.

Once you visited the museum you can stroll on the ramparts on the castle to enjoy a beautiful landscape over the city.

There is also a chapel inside the castle.

Mikeze and Jakeze. These are the original mechanical staues which striked the hours on the top of the town hall in piazza dell' Unità d' Italia. They are stored into the castle.

Some days ago I spent a week in Trieste and I did a couple of day trips. I visited Gorizia and Muggia.

Gorizia is a beautiful town at the border with Slovenia. I went there by direct train. It took around 44 minutes to get there.

I only spent some hours in this town, but I explored the main areas in its old core.

Piazza Sant' Antonio one of the squares in Gorizia. It is partly surrounded by a remain of a cloister of a monastery.

According to a legend this monastery was founded by saint Anthony.

Next to the cloister in piazza Sant' Antonio there is an ancient palace. I checked if it was opened for a visit, but it was not. I spotted this beautiful floral arrangment in its courtyard.

Via Rastello is one of the main streets in the old core of Gorizia. There are lots of shops here.

There are some porticoes at the end of via Rastello.

There is a small confectionery in Gorizia; the pasticceria Cidin Eddo. It is in via Guglielmo Marconi.

Here you can find various kinds of cakes and even typical ones. It' s a place worth to visit!

Gorizia is overlooked by a castle. It was probably founded in the XI century. In the course of the centuries it was damaged, destroyed and restructured many times. In 1937 it was restored to its original aspect.

The castle is opened to visitors. I didn' t visit it, but I will do next time I visit Gorizia.

In the precinct of the castle (its name is Borgo Castello) you can see the small church of the Holy Spirit. It dated to the XV century.

There are also some old houses and a couple of museums in Borgo Castello.

A door knocker in Borgo Castello.

The views from the castle area are relly great. They could be much better with less foliage.

Piazza della Vittoria; the main square in Gorizia is very large. Here you can visit the church of sant' Ignatius.

A palace at piazza della Vittoria.

Another sight at this square is the Neptune fountain. It was built in the 1700.

Muggia is a nice sea side town situated at the south - east of Trieste; on the border with Slovenia. I visited Muggia several times. There are daily buses from Trieste to get there.The journey takes around half an hour.

This town is overlooked by a castle built between 1375 and 1399. It was restored in 1992.

Piazza Marconi is the main square in Muggia. It is surrounded by the duomo (cathedral), by the town hall and some restaurants and some shops.

The cathedral was built on the site of a previous church. It was consecrated in 1263. The church you see today dates to the 1467.

Since the XIII century the town hall is situated in piazza Marconi. Its last reconstruction was made in 1930.

If you like to explore Muggia properly, you have to climb a bit. Muggia has also lots of stairs.

The harbour in Muggia is small and surrounded by colourful houses.

You can see part of the castle from the harbour.

Gelateria Jimmy is a good place to have a ice cream. Here they also serve pastries and sandwitches.

This is a dessert I had at gelateria Jimmy. It is practicaly a small ice cream. It was very good.

This gelateria is located near the harbour.

Muggia has narrow streets (calli) and small squares; as in Venice.

This town is a good place to spend some hours.

If you are going to spend more than a couple of days in Trieste, you could visit two beautiful castles and an island. There is no need to rent a car, because the castles and the island are easily reachable by public trasportation from Trieste.

I visited the castles and the island some years ago.

Miramare castle was built between 1856 and 1860 by orders of Maximilian of the House of Habsburg (1832-1867). He was Franz Joseph' s (emperor of Austria) youngest brother. This castle is located in Grignano.

Inside you can visit more than 20 rooms. All these have original furniture. You can see the private apartments where Maximilian and his wife Charlotte lived for a short period; the guests rooms and the throne room.

The castle is surrounded by a huge park with ponds, statues and some buildings as the stables and the so called Castelletto. Here Maximilian and Charlotte lived while the castle was being constructed.

Duino is a town not far from Trieste. Here you can visit a castle. Well, in reality there are two castles in Duino. The old and the new one. This one is open to visitors.

The new castle was built around 1400. What we see today are some buildings constructed in different years.

This castle belonged to various people and was also used as a prison. At the end of the 19th century it became property of the prince Alexander of Thurn und Taxis.

Over the years this castle hosted many famous artists as Strauss, Liszt, Twain and Rainer Maria Rilke.

I took this picture from the castle tower.

Another picture from the castle tower.

The "old" castle was built in the XI century. It is now in ruins. You can see it from a balcony and from the tower of the new castle.

Grado is an island situated 52 km from Trieste. It is linked to the mainland by two bridges.

One of the highlights in Grado is the basilica of saint Euphemia. It has a beautiful mosaic pavement which covers almost the entire floor surface.

This church dates from the end of the VI century. It was built on the site of a previous basilica built between the IV and V centuries.

Beside this church there is a baptistery which dates to the fifth century. In this picture you see part of the basilica of saint Euphemia.

Some meters from the church you can visit the basilica of saint Maria delle Grazie. This church was built at the end of the VI century. It was built over another one of the V century. It is smaller than the basilica of S. Euphemia and houses a beautiful colourful Madonna.

Once you visited the churches and the baptistery you could have a stroll in the town center.

The old core of Grado is made mostly of stone houses. It has narrow streets (calli), small squares (campielli) as in Venice. You can wander in the center of Grado for at least a couple of hours or maybe more.

There are even some Roman ruins in this town.

I went to Grado from Trieste by coach from the bus station. I took a coach to Monfalcone. Once in Monfalcone I crossed the road and I took a bus to Grado.

The bus station in Grado is in piazza Carpaccio; which is just a couple of streets from the harbour.