Trieste is one of Italy’s most intriguing cities. For reasons of history and geography Trieste is perhaps both the most and least Italian city in Italy. Let’s explain this concept a bit more – because of its location, in a corner of Europe where the Italian, Slavic, and German cultures meet, Trieste has always been a strategic point. For much of its history it was in conflict with, and overshadowed by, nearby Venice, and so voluntarily sought protection from other powers – mainly the Austrian Hapsburgs. Up to the start of the first World War the city was the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s only mediterranean port, and was a bustling cosmopolitan city. After WWI the city officially became the Free Territory of Trieste being governed up until 1954 by the United Nations. In 1954 the city was officially returned to the Italian state, amidst national celebrations, in 1955 the city’s famous square, known variously as Piazza Grande (in Italian) or Veliki trg was renamed Piazza dell’Unità d’Italia. The immediate postwar years were tense, with Trieste famously marking one point on Churchill’s famous Iron Curtain speech. Tensions remained high with Yugoslavia, after the years of fascist violence and vicious reprisals. Visitors to Trieste today, though, will find a city enjoying a certain renaissance. While off the usual tourist trail for visitors to Italy, it is a gateway to Mitteleuropa, and relations with Slovenia, Croatia, and Austria are better than they have been for decades. It is a thriving city, the capital of one of the richest regions of Italy – Friuli-Venezia-Giulia. In 2012 Trieste was voted one of the most under-rated destinations in the world by the Lonely Planet, and it regularly crops up as one of Italy’s best kept secrets.
Here we’ve put together a number of articles, travel tips and guides for Trieste to help you get the best out of your trip.
If you’re just going to see one place in Trieste, it’s got to be the amazing Piazza dell’Unità d’Italia (formerly know as both Piazza San Pietro and Piazza Grande (as well as Piazza Francesco Giuseppe during the latter part of the city’s Austrian rule). The piazza, often described as Trieste’s Salotto or living room – […]
Trieste’s Kleine Berlin is a series of air raid shelters built during the Italian City’s occupation by the Nazis in 1943.
Castle Miramare, built overlooking the Gulf of Trieste, is one of the main tourist attractions in Trieste, allowing visitors to take a glimpse back into how the 19th Century European Aristocracy lived.
Trieste may not be world famous for its cuisine, but don’t let that fool you as there are lots of wonderful local dishes to taste. We’ve put together a list of five essential Triestine dishes to sample on your visit to the city.
Trieste, once a major international crossroads, serving as a port for the mighty Hapsburg empire, is today somewhat on the periphery. Most tourists to Italy rarely venture up to that North Eastern Corner, distracted by the classic cities of Venice, Milan, Florence and Rome, or perhaps by the allure of the South; Travellers heading to […]
As the world and his wife, in Joycean terms, turn their attention to Dublin, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the fictional event of Bloomsday, it seems almost as if a lone Irish voice is reminding us that Joyce wrote most of his work outside of Ireland, and in particular a large part of it […]
