A trip to the free city of Trieste. Italy

Throughout its history, Trieste accumulated great wealth, but was forced to give them to the Austrian emperor as a payment for the patronage provided to the city back in the 14th century. And no sooner had the city become Italian in the first half of the 20th century than it almost changed citizenship after spending several years in the status of the Free Territory of Trieste, which Italy and Yugoslavia fought for.

UNDER THE AUSTRIAN CROWN

For many centuries, Trieste lived under the rule of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty, flourished, but secretly dreamed of independence.

The Italian city of Trieste is located in the northwest of the Balkan Peninsula, on the shores of the Gulf of Trieste, on the northern coast of the Adriatic Sea. This is a large port with a convenient harbor, rising from the coastline along the steep hillside of Colle li San Giusto. This hill and the neighboring ones are the end of the Karst Plateau, which breaks into the sea. The surrounding hills are riddled with many caves formed by rainwater and streams.

Trieste is one of the historical centers of northeastern Italy, formed under the influence of Latin, Slavic and Germanic cultures.

People have been building their settlements here since the 2nd millennium BC. e. The most famous are the Illyrians, in the X-IX centuries. BC e. - Adriatic venets, who called their settlement Tergeste (trading place).

The history and current administrative and political state of Trieste is defined by its geographical position between two enemies from the early Middle Ages to the Second World War - Austria and Italy.

BABYLON ON THE ADRIATICA

In Trieste, dozens of languages ​​and peoples mixed up in the most bizarre way, and each of the representatives of these peoples has every right to claim that he is the native inhabitant of Trieste.

Being part of Austria-Hungary affected the appearance of Trieste, which retained the external features of a typical Austrian city (after all, Trieste was part of Austria for almost 600 years) with pretentious-style houses that form a whole area called the Austrian Quarter. In Italy itself, Trieste is considered the most "non-Italian" city in the country, citing two facts as confirmation: the central part of the city was built up according to the plan of the Austrian Archduchess Maria Theresa (1717-1780), and Trieste officially became part of modern Italy later than all other cities in the country - only in 1954

Another striking detail is the large, even by Mediterranean standards, number of different coffee houses. Citizens who call themselves "triestini" claim that it was from their city that coffee began to be imported to Europe.

For Eastern Europeans, Trieste is Italy's Northern Gateway, and it's no surprise that so many people from the Balkans live here. And the state border with Slovenia is not far from the city, and it is quite possible to reach it on foot. The proximity to the border is also expressed in the fact that, despite the fact that the official language here is Italian, on street signs and signs in Trieste, inscriptions are usually made in two languages: Italian and Slovenian.

Due to its extremely favorable geographical position in terms of trade, Trieste has become a center of foreign trade for the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe. The city is the most important point of the so-called transport "Corridor 5", linking Western and Eastern Europe through Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Ukraine and Bosnia.

Today Trieste is one of the richest regions of the country.

In addition to a major seaport, there is an oil terminal in Trieste, from which the Transalpine pipeline stretches to Germany, through which imported oil is transported, as well as oil products obtained at city refineries.

Trieste is a large industrial center of the Adriatic, it produces ship engines, builds and repairs ships, produces glass, paper and jute products.

The main and most romantic attraction of Trieste is Miramare Castle (Castello Miramare). The castle was built on a cliff protruding into the Adriatic Sea in the vicinity of Trieste according to the project of the extremely gifted architect Karl Juncker. It is difficult to determine the style of the castle, sometimes it is called historical romanticism: Gothic, Arabic, Byzantine, Romanesque and Renaissance motifs are noticeable here. The Austrian Archduke Maximilian (future Emperor of Mexico) and his wife Charlotte of Belgium were the customers and owners of the construction. All the halls of the castle face the sea (and the name is translated as “Looking at the sea”) and are illuminated by the sun all day. The castle has been preserved, but the fate of its owners is tragic: being the emperor of Mexico, Maximilian was shot by the Republicans, and Charlotte had lost her mind even before that.

The pride of all Triestini is the main offices of the largest international scientific organizations located in the city: the International Center for Theoretical Physics, the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, as well as the branch of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics.

CURIOUS FACTS

■ The builder of Miramare Castle, Austrian Karl Juncker (1827-1882) was a very wealthy man and an unusually talented architect, whose creative life was overshadowed by an incurable disease: Juncker suffered from schizophrenia, which left an imprint on the appearance of the last architectural creations of his life.

■ Archduke Maximilian found the site for the construction of Miramare Castle by chance. In the spring of 1855, he was on a boat trip when a strong wind suddenly came up and he had to seek shelter in the bay of Grignano, protected from the north by a rocky ledge. The Archduke was so overwhelmed by the pure pristine beauty of the coast and the rolling coastline that he immediately decided to build the castle of his dreams here.

■ In Trieste, the only active beach in Europe has been preserved, divided into male and female halves by a wall called Pedocin that goes into the sea.

■ In 1882, in Trieste, an Italian irredentist (Austrian resistance activist) named Guillermo Oberdan made an attempt on the life of Franz Joseph I (1830-1916), Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is surprising that at that time the city bore the honorary title of urbs fidelissima (the most faithful city) for refusing to participate in the revolutionary unrest of the 1840s. Oberdan was arrested, tried and executed. Emperor Franz Joseph I ruled Austria-Hungary for another 35 years, but never returned to Trieste.

■ Trieste was unheard of lucky in 1470, when, by sheer chance, an army of Ottoman Turks passed, burning everything in its path, just seven kilometers from Trieste: their main goal was the Friuli region.

■ In the I century. Pliny the Elder (22/24-79) wrote about Trieste as a large port and trading city in his Natural History.

■ May 1-2, 1945 Trieste was liberated and occupied by units of the Yugoslav People's Liberation Army. A week later, on June 9, 1945, Anglo-American troops entered the city with the intention of preventing Yugoslavia from occupying the areas surrounding Trieste. The fate of Trieste was decided in favor of Italy through an incredibly difficult and confusing diplomatic game.

■ The Free Territory of Trieste (Free State of Trieste) was officially a United Nations mandate from 1947 to 1954. The UN Security Council thus tried to maintain a balance in this multinational region and reduce the risk of territorial conflicts between Italy and Yugoslavia. The territory was ruled by military governors: an American, an Englishman and a Yugoslav. The territory was divided by the so-called "Morgan Line" (named after the British General William Morgan) into the Anglo-American zone A (Trieste and adjacent coastal areas) and the Yugoslav zone B (part of the Istrian coast). On October 5, 1954, an agreement was signed in London, according to which zone A was annexed to Italy, and zone B to Yugoslavia. For all eight years of its existence, the territory, not being an independent state, had its own currency (Trieste lira) and postage stamps.

A city in the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, the administrative center of the province of the same name. In the past - a free imperial city, the capital of the Austrian Primorye, a separate free territory. Trieste is located in northeastern Italy on the border with Slovenia. This is a major port, operating since 1719, and the only place in the Adriatic where the natural depth of the sea allows you to receive the largest ships.

Trieste is mentioned by Caesar in the Notes on the Gallic War as Tergest. The first city walls were built under Octavian, who in 33 BC. also ordered to adapt the bay for receiving ships. Tergest later found himself in the shadow of nearby Aquileia. In the Middle Ages, a significant trading center, for which there was a struggle of various states. In the V-IX centuries. Trieste was conquered by the Ostrogoths, Byzantium, Lombards, Franks. The Italian king Lothair II in 947 made it a free community headed by a bishop-count. In 1202 he was captured by the Venetian Republic, for a long time he tried to free himself, appealing to the help of the emperor and the Habsburgs. The last townspeople swore allegiance in 1382.

Although for centuries it remained the main (and sometimes the only) port of the Habsburg Monarchy, its development was so slow that even at the beginning of the 18th century it was an unremarkable, sleepy town with a population of 5.7 thousand inhabitants. Charles VI of Habsburg, having attended to the arrangement of sea communication with the newly acquired possessions in southern Italy, in 1719 declared Trieste a free imperial city.

Privileges granted by the emperor marked the beginning of the rapid growth of Trieste. In 1797 and 1805 it was occupied by French troops, in 1809 it was annexed by France and until 1813 it was part of the Illyrian provinces. By 1891, when the rights of the free city were withdrawn, Trieste had grown 27 times. Two-thirds of the population at that time were Italians. The Austro-Hungarian Trieste at the turn of the century is one of the largest ports in the Mediterranean, and moreover, the pearl of the so-called. Austrian Riviera, where the upper strata of Viennese society spent the winter months.

After the 1st World War of 1914-1918, it became part of Italy. In 1943, during the 2nd World War of 1939-1945, it was occupied by Nazi Germany. On May 1-2, 1945, it was liberated by the Yugoslav People's Liberation Army, on June 9, 1945, Anglo-American troops entered the city (they were there until 1954).

The fate of Trieste was for a long time the object of diplomatic struggle. Under the peace treaty with Italy (February 10, 1947), Trieste with a small district was allocated to the "Free Territory of Trieste" and received the status of a free port. However, the conditions for the existence of the “Free Territory of Trieste”, defined by the peace treaty (demilitarization, withdrawal of foreign troops, democratization, etc.), were not respected. According to the Italo-Yugoslav agreement of 1954 (negotiations were conducted with the participation of Great Britain and the USA), the area of ​​\u200b\u200b"Free Territory of Trieste" was liquidated, Trieste and the territory adjacent to it in the west (223 km 2) were ceded to Italy, territories east of Trieste (about 520 km 2) passed to Yugoslavia. In 1975, Yugoslavia and Italy signed an agreement on the state border in the Trieste region.

One of the attractions of the city is the castle of San Giusto, crowning the hill of the same name. It was built in the XIV century by order of Frederick III of Austria for his governor in these lands. Now, behind the thick, green fortified walls, from which a fantastic view of the city opens, there is a museum of weapons.

For a person who is fond of history, walking around Trieste is a pleasure. Although this city is mostly medieval, earlier civilizations have left their mark here. There is a mini-roman forum here, right at the foot of the fortress on the same hill. In the old city, an arch has been preserved - a fragment of a Romanesque wall dating back to the 1st century BC. In the 30s of the 20th century, an entire Romanesque theater was discovered during excavations. Now it is located at a sufficient distance from the sea, and once it was built almost at the water's edge. Since ancient times, the sea has given way to land, on which the port was founded.

The center of the city is the main Square of Unity of Italy, which goes directly to the sea in the area of ​​the old port, and behind it stretches the main shopping street Corso Italia. Initially, this square was uncomplicatedly called the Grande, or "large". It began to acquire its present form in the 19th century, when luxurious palaces - palazzos - grew one after another along its perimeter. Today they house the governor's palace, the building of the government of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, to which Trieste belongs, and the building of the government of the province of Trieste.

The church of Sant Antonio Taumaturgo, crowning the Canal Grande, is somewhat reminiscent of the buildings of the Mussolini era. All the bulky buildings of Borgo Teresiano (the new city) contrast strongly with the old city, which descends from the castle down the hill of San Giusto to the sea. The old city, although small, is very cozy and cute with its narrow streets, each of which, even one door long, has its own name. In the vicinity of the city - a large grotto ("Grotta Gigante" in the natural park "Val Rosandra"), the romantic castle of Miramare (mid-19th century), the medieval castle of Duino. And also the house where James Joyce wrote "Ulysses", the German concentration camp "Risiera di San Sabba".

In the endless Moscow winter, Italian memories are increasingly "overcoming". I also remembered the sunny Italian port of Trieste, and in the past - a free imperial city, the capital of the Austrian Primorye, a separate free territory.
Trieste is located in the depths of the Trieste Gulf of the Adriatic Sea, 145 km east of Venice, near the Slovenian border. The first city walls of Trieste were built under Octavian in 33 BC. e. to receive ships. The Austro-Hungarian Trieste of the turn of the century is one of the largest ports in the Mediterranean, the pearl of the Austrian Riviera. From the moment of its formation (1860), the Italian kingdom considered the acquisition of Trieste one of the goals of its foreign policy. Under the Italo-Yugoslav Treaty of 1954 (with the participation of Great Britain and the United States), Trieste and the territories to the north of it eventually passed to Italy.

We were traveling to Italy from Slovenia and the main goal was to visit the Miramare Palace on the outskirts of Trieste. We landed at Unity Square in Italy. The huge square overlooking the sea is one of the main attractions of Trieste. This square is considered not only one of the most beautiful squares in Italy. It is known that in Europe there are only three squares with direct access to the sea: in Venice, Trieste and Lisbon. The square was designed in 1879 by the architect Bruni, but in 1999 it was completely modernized. In fact, the idea of ​​"turning the city to face the sea" came to mind in the eighteenth century, Maria Theresa - the Austrian Archduchess, mother of Marie Antoinette, who personally oversaw the construction of Trieste.
The center of Trieste, which combines the features of Austrian and Italian influence, pleased with its elegance, festivity and free sea wind. As usual, the photos and videos taken are mounted as impressions of this city - this is the main square of the Unity of Italy, and the remains of ancient Roman buildings - the ruins of the theater, the Orthodox Church of St. Spyridon, the Church of San Antonio Nuovo at the end of the Grand Canal, the monument to James Joyce at the bridge over the Grand Canal, the romantic Miramare castle of the mid-19th century.

Unfortunately, the Trieste video has been blocked from YouTube by the copyright holder -Percy Faith & His Orchestra. It's a pity, of course, the music was very suitable. You will have to re-edit the video.

The sad and beautiful castle of Miramare left an unforgettable impression. It is located on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, at the tip of Cape Grignano in the Gulf of Trieste, and is surrounded by a luxurious park with valuable plant species. The castle building was built of Istrian stone and follows the shape of a rock ledge. Everything here delights: a beautiful landscape, the decoration of the castle, the thoughtfulness of landscape solutions, a small pier. The castle was conceived in the middle of the nineteenth century by Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Habsburg (1822-1867), the younger brother of the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph, to live there with his wife, Charlotte of Belgium (1840-1927), daughter of the Belgian King Leopold I. They lived in the castle only 4 years...
More romantic history of Miramare Castle and its interiors in the video

Trieste (Italian and Ven. Trieste, Friulian Triest, Slovenian and Croatian Trst, Latin Tergeste, Tergestum) is a city in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the administrative center of the province of the same name. In the past - a free imperial city, the capital of the Austrian Primorye, a separate free territory. Trieste is located in the northwest of the Balkan Peninsula, in the depths of the Trieste Gulf of the Adriatic Sea, 145 km east of Venice, near the Slovenian border. According to the 1991 census, the population of the city was 231 thousand people; and in 2007, 203,356. The city's patron saint is Justus of Trieste. City Day - November 3rd.

Trieste is mentioned by Caesar in the Notes on the Gallic War as Tergest. The first city walls were built under Octavian, who in 33 B.C. e. also ordered to adapt the bay for receiving ships. Tergest later found himself in the shadow of nearby Aquileia. In the Middle Ages, a significant trading center, for which there was a struggle of various states. The Italian king Lothair II in 947 made it a free community headed by a bishop-count. In 1202 he was captured by the Venetian Republic, for a long time he tried to free himself, appealing to the help of the emperor and the Habsburgs. The last townspeople swore allegiance in 1382. Although for centuries Trieste remained the main (and sometimes the only) port of the Habsburg Monarchy, its development was so slow that even at the beginning of the 18th century it was an unremarkable, sleepy town with a population of 5.7 thousand inhabitants. Charles VI of Habsburg, having attended to the arrangement of sea communication with the newly acquired possessions in southern Italy, in 1719 declared Trieste a free imperial city. The privileges granted by the emperor marked the beginning of the rapid growth of Trieste. In 1861, the charter of Trieste was adopted, the city became one of the crown lands of Austria, the city council became the representative body, the administrative committee headed by the podest was the executive body. By 1891, when the rights of the free city were withdrawn, Trieste had grown 27 times. Two-thirds of the population at that time were Italians. The Austro-Hungarian Trieste of the turn of the century is one of the largest ports in the Mediterranean, and, moreover, the pearl of the so-called. Austrian Riviera, where the upper strata of Viennese society spent the winter months. From the moment of its formation (1860), the Italian kingdom considered the acquisition of Trieste one of the goals of its foreign policy and, under the guarantees of the London Pact (under which the Entente countries promised Trieste to the Italians), entered the First World War. As a result of the war, not only Trieste, but almost the entire Austrian Littoral, from which the Venezia Giulia region was formed, went to Italy. In 1943-1945, during World War II, Trieste was under German occupation; Risiera di San Savva concentration camp operated here. Managed by Anglo-American military authorities from 1945-1947; in 1947-1954, Trieste with a small district was the so-called. The free territory of Trieste under the control of ...

K: Appeared in 1849 K: Disappeared in 1919

The Austrian Littoral was a multinational entity. Italian, Slovene, Croatian, German, Friulian and Istro-Romance were spoken here. In 1910, the area of ​​Kyustenland was 7969 km², and the population exceeded 894 thousand people. The main industrial center was Trieste - the main seaport of Austria-Hungary. The economy of other coastal areas was tied to agriculture and tourism (the Adriatic coastal strip was dubbed the Austrian Riviera).

After the loss of these provinces, Austria finally lost access to the sea.

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• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

An excerpt characterizing the Austrian Littoral

- Non, Andre, je dis que vous avez tellement, tellement change ... [No, Andrey, I say: you have changed so, so much ...]
“Your doctor tells you to go to bed earlier,” said Prince Andrei. - You should go to sleep.
The princess said nothing, and suddenly her short, mustache-lined sponge trembled; Prince Andrei, standing up and shrugging his shoulders, walked across the room.
Pierre, surprised and naive, looked through his glasses first at him, then at the princess, and stirred, as if he, too, wanted to get up, but again pondered.
“What does it matter to me that Monsieur Pierre is here,” the little princess suddenly said, and her pretty face suddenly broke into a tearful grimace. “I wanted to tell you for a long time, Andre: why have you changed so much towards me?” What did I do to you? You're going to the army, you don't feel sorry for me. For what?
– Lise! - only said Prince Andrei; but in this word there was both a request, and a threat, and, most importantly, an assurance that she herself would repent of her words; but she went on hurriedly:
“You treat me like a sick person or a child. I see everything. Were you like this six months ago?
“Lise, I ask you to stop,” Prince Andrei said even more expressively.
Pierre, becoming more and more agitated during this conversation, got up and went up to the princess. He seemed unable to bear the sight of tears and was ready to cry himself.
- Calm down, princess. It seems so to you, because I assure you, I myself experienced ... why ... because ... No, excuse me, the stranger is superfluous here ... No, calm down ... Farewell ...
Prince Andrei stopped him by the hand.
- No, wait, Pierre. The princess is so kind that she does not want to deprive me of the pleasure of spending the evening with you.
“No, he only thinks of himself,” the princess said, unable to hold back her angry tears.
“Lise,” said Prince Andrei dryly, raising his tone to the degree that shows that patience is exhausted.
Suddenly, the angry squirrel expression of the princess's pretty face was replaced by an attractive and compassionate expression of fear; she looked frowningly at her husband with her beautiful eyes, and on her face appeared that timid and confessing expression that a dog has, quickly, but feebly wagging his lowered tail.
- Mon Dieu, mon Dieu! [My God, my God!] - the princess said and, picking up the fold of her dress with one hand, she went up to her husband and kissed him on the forehead.
- Bonsoir, Lise, [Good night, Liza,] - said Prince Andrei, getting up and politely, like a stranger, kissing his hand.

The friends were silent. Neither of them began to speak. Pierre glanced at Prince Andrei, Prince Andrei rubbed his forehead with his small hand.
"Let's go to dinner," he said with a sigh, getting up and heading for the door.
They entered the elegant, newly decorated dining room. Everything, from napkins to silver, faience and crystal, bore that special imprint of novelty that happens in the household of young spouses. In the middle of dinner, Prince Andrei leaned on his elbows and, like a man who has long had something in his heart and suddenly decides to speak out, with an expression of nervous irritation in which Pierre had never seen his friend before, he began to say:
“Never, never marry, my friend; here is my advice to you: do not marry until you tell yourself that you have done everything you could, and until you stop loving the woman you have chosen, until you see her clearly; otherwise you will make a cruel and irreparable mistake. Marry an old man, worthless ... Otherwise, everything that is good and lofty in you will be lost. Everything is wasted on trifles. Yes Yes Yes! Don't look at me with such surprise. If you expect anything from yourself ahead, then at every step you will feel that everything is over for you, everything is closed, except for the drawing room, where you will stand on the same board with the court lackey and the idiot ... Yes, what! ...
He waved his hand vigorously.
Pierre took off his glasses, which made his face change, showing even more kindness, and looked in surprise at his friend.
“My wife,” continued Prince Andrei, “is a wonderful woman. This is one of those rare women with whom you can be dead for your honor; but, my God, what would I not give now not to be married! This I tell you alone and first, because I love you.
Prince Andrei, saying this, was even less like than before, that Bolkonsky, who was sitting lounging in Anna Pavlovna's armchair and squinting through his teeth, uttering French phrases. His dry face kept trembling with the nervous animation of every muscle; eyes, in which the fire of life had previously seemed extinguished, now shone with a radiant, bright brilliance. It was evident that the more lifeless he seemed at ordinary times, the more energetic he was in those moments of almost painful irritation.