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Trieste Travel guide, Trieste hotels, vacation

Historically and culturally an international city, Trieste offers visitors a magic moment, which, for music and theatre lovers lasts the whole year.
Events which make it worth coming to Trieste are many and here we have picked out just a few, divided by period of year, according to season or particular occasions.

Trieste Travel guide, Trieste hotels - holidays in Italy

Trieste Travel information

The first inhabitants in this area date back to the end of the ice-age, who preferred the caves at Carso, as verified by the archaeological remains discovered in the area which are now exhibited in the History and Art Civic Museum.

During the Bronze Age the first villages were established on the top of the hills, as this position gave protection from the many wild animals that roamed the area and from invading tribes. It was most probably a fortified building situated on San Giusto hill that gave birth to the city. It was inhabited by various tribes, Indo-European Illyrians and Gaelic-Celts.

Confirmation of Trieste's position as an important crossroads con also be seen from the origin of its ancient place-name Tergeste (TERG = market and ESTE = city).

The introduction of the city into the Roman world and way of life was slow but without difficulty. The city's architectural development began between the 1st and 2nd centuries after Christ. On the top of the San Giusto hill the grand basilica was erected, and, following various re-constructions, in the 14th century the basilica and the baptistery, which con still be seen today, were completed.

There are many Roman ruins scattered around the city: the Richard Arch, the Basilica, the Roman Theatre and various aristocratic villas on the outskirts of the city.

The decline of the Roman Empire brought about a period of uncertain political and administration unrest, with barbaric attacks on the undefended outskirts of the city.

The city's church could not provide stability and it fell to foreign domain: Goths, Longobards, Byzantines and Francs who organised force troops of local inhabitants for its defence (numerus terestinus).

Around the 11th century the first local magistrates with judicial powers were established, these were called Gastaldi.

During the Middle ages, the city was also attacked from the sea, by groups of pirates fighting for the supremacy of the Adriatic Sea and Venice.

This constant fighting continued until Trieste was annexed to the Austrian-Hungarian Empire under Leopold of Austria in 1382.

In 1470 Fredrick Ill built a castle for defence purposes. For short periods of time Venice and Spain ruled Trieste until finally Austrian rule was re-established until 1918. It was under Austrian rule that the city's economy prospered.

A "new" city was established when many of Trieste's waterways were covered over with earth thus expanding the land volume. Trieste was mode into a free port in 1719 and new commercial passages were set up to reach for away land including the Orient and the Americas. Naval companies and large shipbuilding works were opened.

Trieste flourished, becoming the port of Vienna and the largest port of the Austrian Empire. Cultural upheaval attracted many illustrious personalities, artists and literary figures to Trieste.

Dante for instance arrived as Congrande della Scala's ambassador.

Italo Svevo, Umberto Sabo, Scipio Slatoper, Rainer Maria Rilke and James Joyce include just some of the famous writers and poets who were born or lived in Trieste.

Italo SvevoMany of the city's personalities were committed in movements for independence European nations.
At the end of World War One, in November 1918 Trieste finally became Italian.

During the Second World War Trieste's area was made into province under direct German rule.

These territories returned under Italian rule in 1954 when Trieste become county town to Italy's smallest Province and to the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region.

Trieste Sights, sightseeing, culture:

Trieste (ancient Tergeste; Serbo-Croatian Trst), city and port, north-eastern Italy, capital of Trieste Province and of Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region, on the Gulf of Trieste, at the north-eastern extremity of the Adriatic Sea. Trieste has an excellent harbour and extensive freight-handling facilities. Industries include shipbuilding, petroleum refining, and the manufacture of iron and steel products, textiles, machinery, and foodstuffs. The old section of the city is on the lower slopes of San Giusto hill, and the modern section fronts on the harbour. Among the city landmarks are an amphitheatre dating from Roman times and the Basilica di San Giusto (5th century). The University of Trieste (1938) is in the city, as is an institute for advanced study in physics (1979).

January and February: Trieste, and the neighbouring town of Muggia which is of Istrian and Venetian origin, prepare to celebrate Carnival. The climax of this colourful festival are processions where bands and thousands of people in costumes parade with allegorical floats.

March and April: visit the city's many museums and the aquarium where marine fauna from all over the world may be seen.

May and June are devoted to nature: take a walk between the sea and the sky along the Rilke path, run in the marathon, along the breath-taking, panoramic road between Monfalcone and Trieste, visit the Carsiana botanical gardens, the Giant Cave, the largest natural cavity in the world, or have something to eat in a characteristic "osmiza" on the Karst.

July and August is a time to relax sunbathing and swimming, enjoying a walk in Miramare Park, evenings spent at the Festival of Operetta or at one of the many open-air shows.

September and October are the most important month for lovers of sport and the sea. The "Barcolana" is the highlight of the season, the biggest international regatta in the Mediterranean in which nearly 2000 boats take part. And, for visitors who prefer dry land, the Karst is decked in her splendid autumn colours.

November and December are ideal months to discover Trieste through a wide variety of events. In November, for example, the most important Antique Fair in the region is held at the Maritime Terminal; whilst in December the city's streets abound with Christmas markets and there is a rich calendar of religious occasions, the churches are alive with music and events, from the splendid Synagogue to the "golden" Serb Orthodox church, from the Neo-Gothic Evangelical church to the Basilica of San Giuslo as well as a large exhibition of the most original nativity scenes at Palazzo Vivante.

Trieste was built as a Roman port by the emperor Augustus in the 1st century BC. After the dissolution of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, it fell to Attila, king of the Huns; in the 6th century it passed to the Byzantine Empire. During the 8th century Trieste was ruled briefly by the Lombards of northern Italy and then passed to the Carolingian, or second, dynasty of Frankish kings. Later it became a free commune. In 1382 Trieste placed itself under the protection of Austria, maintaining that status except for two periods (1797-1805 and 1809-13), during which it was incorporated into French-dominated Italy, until after World War I. In 1719 the Holy Roman emperor Charles VI made Trieste a free port. With surrounding territory, it was constituted a separate crown land in 1867.

The Austrian government revoked the free-port privileges of the city in 1891, authorizing instead a free trade zone. As the only Austrian seaport and a natural outlet for countries of central Europe, Trieste prospered throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Italian troops captured the city, long an Italian irredentist centre, in 1918, during World War I. In 1919, by the terms of the Allied Treaty of Saint-Germain with Austria, the city, in which the Italian language and culture had long flourished, was assigned to Italy. Although the free trade zone was maintained, Trieste declined as a shipping centre under Italian rule, because it was politically cut off from central Europe; industrial growth, however, continued. Yugoslav troops captured the city in May 1945, during World War II. By the terms of the peace signed (1947) by Italy after the war, Trieste and the surrounding area were made part of the Free Territory of Trieste, which was placed under the protection of the United Nations.

The territory was divided into Zone A, which included the city of Trieste, and which was under Allied control, and Zone B, under Yugoslav control. Most of Zone A, including the city, was returned to Italian control under the provisions of an agreement between Italy and Yugoslavia, signed in 1954 and ratified by treaty in 1975, that allowed it to remain a free port. The rest of the territory was incorporated into Yugoslavia. It became part of Slovenia when the republic declared its independence in 1991.