Discovering Trieste

Trieste - a meeting of the East and West, the sea and the inland area with a thousand histories, encounters, and conflicts. A true gateway, a city of transition, far away from the big crowds. Its many events which took place within its borders and its alternating fortunes as a key strategic point have profoundly influenced it. Italo Svevo was born here, and the name already says a lot about the mixture of styles.

Trieste is also the city of coffee, being a free port for its importation since the 18th century. Not only a city of commerce, it is also a culture hub, with charmingly retro literary cafés that once hosted the likes of Italo Svevo, Umberto Saba and James Joyce, and are today frequented by contemporary intellectuals.

Let’s dive into the history of Trieste: starting from the second millennium BC, the entire province was the site of protohistoric Illyrian settlements. Around 50 BC saw the Roman conquest of Illyria, giving it the name Tergeste, from which Trieste derives. From the beginning of the third century AD, the city was overwhelmed by barbarian invasions. It was established as a free commune in 1300, but in 1382 it sought the protection of Leopold III, Margrave of Austria, connecting with the Habsburg dynasty.

Modern Trieste dates back to 1719: Carlo VI issued an edict decreeing freedom of navigation and opening the door to trade. Exploiting its status as a free port, the city expanded. In the 19th century, prosperity prevailed in Trieste with the Austrian Empire.

In the early 20th century, social unrest troubled Trieste, which sought annexation to Italy. Following prolonged violence, the Savoy army entered Trieste in 1918. The imminent annexation of the city and Venezia Giulia to Italy further escalated relations between the Italians and Slovenians, with armed clashes. The November 1920 Treaty of Rapallo sanctioned the annexation of Trieste to Italy. The period between the First and Second World Wars was marked by economic struggles.

With the introduction of the fascist racial laws in 1938, the cultural and economic life of the city further deteriorated, due to the exclusion of the Jewish community from public life. The Istrian peninsula ceded land to Yugoslavia after the Second World War. Only in 1954, with the signing of the London Memorandum, did Trieste and its hinterland definitively return to Italy.

One of the people to put Trieste on the map was James Joyce, who lived there for a long time, writing and publishing his early works.