It’s been a while since I posted on this thread: so far I’ve covered mainly the part of the City-center that grew dramatically during the XVIII, XIX and early XX century under Austrian rule when Trieste became one of the empire’s main ports. The next photos shift the focus to the older area of San Giusto Hill: where the city was born as a Roman settlement, and where most of the development took place until the expansion that started in the XVIII century.
Let’s start with some maps. Here is one of the original Roman settlement (founded around 170 BC). The settlement was rather small and included only one side of the hill. The coastline at the time extended until approximately just south of the ruins of the Roman theater. Therefore the current area of Piazza Unità was underwater.
This curious old map shows plans to expand the City walls that protected Trieste during the Middle Ages to San Vito Hill. These plans never materialized and the city remained constrained to the area you see at the bottom:
Let’s start the journey with the ruins of the Roman Theater, built in the I century AD (nowadays basically unused and the home of many cats):
Now to the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore (the large one) and San Silvestro (the smaller one). Santa Maria Maggiore was built by the Jeusit Order in 1632, while the façade is more recent. San Silvestro is one of the oldest churches in Trieste, and is currently used by the Waldesian community.
The rear of San Silvestro:
The Arco di Riccardo used to be one of the gates of the Roman walls built during Emperor Ottaviano’s reign:
Some buildings in the Cittavecchia are in bad shape like this one:
But in the last years, many more are getting fixed-up and have gotten a new coat of paint like these ones in Piazzetta San Silvestro and the whole area may even become trendy in the future:
The Cittavecchia has lots of narrow roads and corners thus offers many interesting views:
Walking up towards the top of the hill, I took a few shots of San Vito hill, a more residential area with more recent buildings:
Walking up the hill, San Giusto cathedral becomes visible on the top (unfortunately I didn’t go inside to take photos since a Mass was being held):
The medieval cathedral has a beautiful rose-window of the 14th century:
The façade and tower contain several Roman elements, some belonging to a pre-existing Roman building: the main entranceway-jambs are of a Roman tombstone, the left entrance belonged to the Roman propylaeum etc. The façade also includes the busts of three bishops of Trieste (one of them became Pope Pius II).
The statue of San Giusto, Saint patron of Trieste:
The small church of San Michele al Carnale, located right next to the cathedral:
Two symbols of Trieste on top of this column from 1844: the melón (mellon), and the alabarda. The symbol of the melón used to be on top of the cathedral’s bell-tower until lighting struck it in 1421 and it was never replaced.
The Melón with the cathedral bell-tower and St. John’s baptistry in the background:
Someone’s views over the harbor:
The top of San Giusto hill also hosts a castle built over 30 some years: started by the Venetians and completed by the Austrians. It was built exclusively for defensive purposes, and today hosts some exhibitions:
The entrance to the castle:
A peak towards the city and the gulf through the trees:
The rear of the cathedral and the castle walls:
The remains of the Roman era forum basilica: once a two-story structure:
Next to the Roman remains is a monument to the fallen of World War I:
Views of the city and the gulf from San Giusto hill:
The other side of the hill offers some views of Trieste’s inland periphery:
A look towards Chiadino on Monte Spaccato:
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