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Visit Trieste in one dayTRIESTE, A fortified village in prehistoric times, then an
Augustan colony, after a turbulent period in the Middle Ages, it was
disputed by Venice and Austria, in whose possession it remained until 1918.
We reach the city in the evening by Viale Miramare and go down Via Cavour to
Piazza dell'Unita d'Italia overlooking the sea and surrounded by 19° century
buildings. The old city, which we shall visit on the morning of the fourth
day, stretches out, with its quaint winding streets, on the slopes of the
hill of San Giusto, where an early Christian basilica stood in the 5°
century. As we climb the hill, we come across the handsome Roman Theatre
(1th century), then turning to the left we reach the Castle (1470-1508) at
the top of the hill, which houses a Museum with a Triptych by Vittore
Carpaccio, .furniture, hangings and ancient weapons. Beyond the round
embattled tower, we see the ruins of the Roman Basilica, next to which
stands, in a magnificent position, the Cathedral of San Giusto (14th
century), built 6y joining together two pre-Romanesque Basilicas. The result
is the present-day Basilica, preceded by a sturdy bell tower. The interior,
consisting of a double-aisled nave, contains a painting by Carpaccio,
frescoes and mosaics (12th and 13th century) in the two apses, which stand
side by side in a most effective manner. Leaving San Giusto, we turn left to
the Museo Civico, containing , works from classical antiquity, glassware,
Or we may go to Miramare, a white castle (1871) built for Maximilian of Austria, brother of Franz Joseph, the ill-starred emperor of Mesico, executed in Queretaro. From the eastern end of the Coast Road into Trieste the eye is drawn to the tip of a headland on which stands the Castle of Miramare. The Castle and its gardens were built at the behest of Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg, brother of Emperor Franz Josef. Born in Vienna in 1832, Maximilian came to Trieste for the first time in 1850. Four years later, appointed Rear Admiral in the Austro-Hungarian Navy, he decided to settle in the city. He decided on the promontory of Miramare as the site for his residence and appointed Carl Junker to take charge of the construction of a castle there (1856), giving him detailed instructions as to its design. Itinerary partly courtesy of ENIT
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