Trieste

Trieste

Trieste 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. It is capital of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trieste province. Trieste flourished as part of Austro-Hungarian Empire during the period 1857 - 1918 when it was Central Europe's prosperous Mediterranean seaport and its capital of literature and music. Today, Trieste is a border town par excellence. The population is an ethnic mix of the neighboring regions; The dominant local Venetian dialect of Trieste is called Triestine. This dialect and Italian is spoken in the city center whilst Slovenian is spoken in several of the immediate suburbs. Italian and the Slovenian language are considered autochthonous to the area. There is also a fair number of German-speakers too.

Activities

The Castle of Miramare was built from 1856 to 1860 to a design by Carl Junker on the orders of Archduke Maximilian. The Castle gardens provide a setting of outstanding beauty with a variety of trees, chosen by and planted on the orders of Maximilian, that today make a remarkable collection. The Castle of San Giusto - in which several rooms, including the Sala Caprin, are open to the public - houses a Museum displaying historical weapons and is regularly used for the staging of exhibitions, events and, in the summer, open-air shows. A walk on the Castle ramparts and bastions gives a complete panorama of the city of Trieste, its hills and the sea. n the 6th century a great hall of worship of the Cathedral of San Giusto was built on Roman propylaca, using part of the existing structure. Perhaps the entrance to a monument, this was commonly known as the Capitoline Temple, as a pyramidal altar with the symbols of the capitoline triad (Jove, Juno and Minerva) had been found inside it. Among the works of historical interest in the basilica are the apsidal mosaics depicting Our Lady of the Assumption and San Giusto, laid by master craftsmen from Veneto in the 12th-13th centuries. The small 14th-century church of San Giovanni (the old baptistry) on the left and San Michele al Carnale on the right, by the entrance to the Museum, complete a fine Medieval churchyard. The Roman Theatre lies at the foot of the San Giusto hill, and faces the sea. The construction partially exploits the gentle slope of the hill, and most of the construction work is in stone. The topmost portion of the amphitheatre steps and the stage were presumably made of wood. The statues that adorned the theatre (which was brought to light in the '30s) are now preserved at the Town Museum. Three inscriptions from the Trajan period mention a certain Q. Petronius Modestus, a person who was closely connected with the development of the theatre, which was erected during the second half of the 1st century. In the whole Trieste province there are 10 speleological groups. The Trieste uphill (Altopiano Triestino), the geographical area of the Carso placed in the Italian territory, guess approximately 1500 caves of different size (67 more than 99 m deep). Among the most famous there is the Cave of Trebiciano (350 m deep) where at the bottom flow the Timavo River and the Grotta gigante the world biggest tourist cave.

Currency

The Euro (EUR), the currency of the European Union, is the official currency of Italy.

Weather Forecast

Sailing Calendar

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