TRIESTE - Italy Travel Guide | Around The World
Trieste (Trst in Slovenian and Croatian, Triest in German) is the capital of the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, in North-East Italy. Once a very influential and powerful centre of politics, literature, music, art and culture under Austrian-Hungarian dominion, its importance fell into decline towards the end of the 20th century, and today, Trieste is often forgotten as tourists head off to the big Italian cities like Rome and Milan or the nearby Venice. It is, however, a very charming underestimated city, with a quiet and lovely almost Eastern European atmosphere, several pubs and cafes, some stunning architecture and a beautiful sea view. It was also, for a while, the residence of famous Irish writer James Joyce.
Trieste has 201,261 inhabitants and it is situated on the crossroads of several commercial and cultural flows: German middle Europe to the north, Slavic masses and the Balkans to the east, Italy and then Latin countries to the west and the Mediterranean Sea to the south.
Its artistic and cultural heritage is linked to its singular border town location. You can find some old Roman architecture (a small theater near the sea, a nice arch into old city and an interesting Roman museum), Austrian empire architecture across the city centre (similar to stuff you can find in Vienna) and a nice atmosphere of metissage of Mediterranean styles, as Trieste was a very important port during the 18th century.
Trieste has always been a very cosmopolitan city. This can be seen in the cultural diversity and even in religion: there is a Greek Orthodox church, a Serbian Orthodox church, a Lutheran church, and a synagogue.
There is a tourist office at the edge of Piazza Unità d'Italia, in the Lloyd Triestino building. Information is available in Italian, German, and English, as are tourist maps and brochures of information about attractions in and around the city.
Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere by Jan Morris is a lovely, melancholy book about Trieste. The author arrived in Trieste with British forces at the end of WWII and subsequently spent several years living in the city. It's more lively now than she describes (it was written in the 1990s), but it's a lyrical introduction to the city's history and its places.
The region of Friuli Venezia Giulia is officially quadrilingual (Italian, Slovene, Friulian or Eastern Ladin and German). Signs are often only italian in Trieste, as the city itself is generally Italian speaking and the local dialect (a form of the Venetian language) is called Triestine. Surrounding villages and towns are often inhabited by mostly Slovene speakers. Residents, and those working in the city, can easily find free courses to learn Italian or Slovene or German or English and many other languages.
National flights via Milan, Rome and Genoa. International flights via Milan and Rome (Alitalia); direct flights from Munich (Air Dolomiti - Lufthansa); direct flights from London and Birmingham and several other European cities (Ryanair); direct flights from Belgrade (Jat); direct flights from Tirana and Prishtina (BelleAir ).
The cuisine of Trieste reflects the living traditions of the many populations that have passed through the city over the centuries. In the city's restaurants, called buffets, you can find delicious examples of the local Austrian and Slavic tradition.
Across the countryside you can find a local tradition that must be mentioned, osmica. Osmicas are wineries predominatly located on the Karst Plateau, small beautiful farms where you will find different kinds of home-made salami, cheese and ham, and a characteristic red wine. Opened for only certain months of the year, the owe their Slovenian name to the word osem (meaning eight in Slovenian, as under the Austro-Hungarian Empire the farmers were allowed to open them for eight days per year). And maybe along the Riviera (Muggia, Sistiana, Duino) you can find some nice places to sleep, too.
The pretty island of Grado just to the west makes a good half day boat trip (ticket retour 6 €).
Venice and Ljubljana are also major nearby destinations.
Trieste has a reputation of being one of Italy's safest cities possibly due to it being a border city (and therefore formerly full of border police and other security services). There are very few problems with regards to walking the streets at night, taking taxis or pick pocketing. Obviously normal precautions should be taken and like elsewhere in Italy be careful of drivers who tend to think that they own the road.