Hints of History

 

About the origins of the city of Trieste, history is intertwined with myth. An ancient legend tells that the founder of the city was Tergeste, a friend of Jason and the Argonauts and that he wanted to stop here.
In the first half of 3000 BC Proto-Venetian tribes settled on today's Colle di San Giusto, where the village developed. Regarding the etymology of the name of Trieste, there are two hypotheses.
The ancient Tergeste became a Roman colony around 178 BC placing itself on the Colle di San Giusto and was made up of a small fortification with walls, and from here the ancient and flourishing village expanded, thanks also to the importance of the commercial exchanges that they took place by sea. With the fall of the Western Empire, a dark period begins: with the barbarian invasions, the city fell under the dominion of the Goths, then expelled by the Byzantine emperor Justinian, until in 568 Trieste was destroyed by the Lombards.
In 1202 the doge Enrico Dandolo subjects the city to the dominion of the Serenissima.
In the Middle Ages at the end of the 13th century Trieste was a free municipality and then the first coins were also minted. The halberd which is the symbol of Trieste also originates from that time.
In 1382 the protection of Duke Leopold of Austria arrived, destined to last for about five centuries.
Between 1700 and 1800, the city went through three Napoleonic occupations.
In 1920, after the Bersaglieri disembarked in 1918 with the "Audace" at the San Carlo pier (today Molo Audace), Trieste was officially incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy.
After the tormented and tragic period passed in the last war, Trieste returned to be annexed to Italy only on 26 October 1954.

 

What to visit in Trieste

Of particular historical sites, natural and cultural aspects of FVG Territory to visit while staying at Triskell, -a part of the typical and best-known attractions of the Miramare Castle and San Giusto, the various museums that offers the city and the 'Trieste Karst Plateau are:

 

Miramare Castle

To visit the Miramare Castle: www.castello-miramare.it

 

San Giusto Castle

To visit the Castle of San Giusto: http://www.castellodisangiustotrieste.it/

 

Duino Castle

To visit the Duino Castle:   www.castellodiduino.it  

 

Giant Cave

To visit the Grotta Gigante: http://www.grottagigante.it/

 

Villa Revoltella

Villa Revoltella and its park, a stone's throw from the Boschetto del Ferdinandeo (towards the hospital), is definitely worth a visit. In via Carlo De Marchesetti, 37.

The entrance features the precious iron gate, the Karst stone church by the Prague architect Kranner, the pond populated by goldfish and turtles, the gloriette and the ancient stables.
Next, the chalet residence, built after 1860 to a design by the Berlin architect Hitzig, in a simple style that fits into the natural environment, and the glass and cast iron greenhouses overlooking the typical Italian garden.

Finally, the area of ​​the staircase with the statue of Pinocchio on the fountain and the underlying playground with the basketball court, the skating rink and numerous recreational facilities of various kinds.
From the entrance there are a series of paths paved with a shredded earthenware with a characteristic red color, interspersed with well-tended green flower beds with ground cover and flowering species and large ancient trees. The park is a real green lung of the city in which to get pleasantly lost among precious and luxuriant essences and where you can also admire a collection of ancient roses.

A mysterious atmosphere hovers around the Villa. There is in fact a legend about Miya, the antimatter, the lady who appeared under a tree to Baron Revoltella during the evening, and where, in memory of this, a plate was placed.

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Garden of Villa Engelmann
The park that once belonged to Villa Frida is located at number 5 in via Chiadino.
Designed at the same time as the Villa in 1840 on behalf of Francesco Ponti of Milan, and completed in 1843. In 1888 it became the property of Frida Engelmann and in 1938 it passed to Guglielmo Engelmann; William's son Werner Engelmann donated the park to the city.
The garden, which occupies approximately 14,000 m2, was restructured in 1980. Conceived and executed with a high design content, it won the Milflor award in 1998 as the best creation in a medium-small sized public area.
In the garden, the typical elements of Nordic landscaping have been used, with flowering and shrub species with graduated flowering; in every season you can walk while being able to contemplate a wealth of shapes and colors.
The area is pleasantly furnished with benches, a pergola and a gazebo for resting and play equipment for children of different ages, including a skating rink with an original wooden roof, where summer shows are also held.

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Botanical Garden
The Civic Botanical Garden is owned by the Municipality of Trieste and is part of the Civic Science Museums. The Institute is associated with a nature reserve formed by the Biasoletto forest and the Farneto forest (90 hectares in total), a few kilometers downhill towards the city, from the Ferdinandeo.
The Civic Botanical Garden regularly publishes the Index Seminum, where the species whose seeds are offered are listed year after year, complete with all the collection data. This list is sent to many other botanic gardens around the world for free exchange between scientific institutes.
To facilitate visits, the infopoint near the entrance has maps and explanatory tables in Italian and English.
All collections are highlighted in place with descriptive tables. The individual plants are labeled with scientific nomenclature and diversified contents according to the characteristics of the area in which they are housed.
The whole Garden is divided into zones:

1. Wild plants
This section is under construction. The historic flowerbeds will be carefully restored, favoring the most interesting species of the Trieste area, Istria and the adjacent regions.
2. Indoor plants
At the beginning of the path dedicated to poisonous plants "the garden of poisons", the most common toxic or lethal houseplants are exhibited.
3. Ornamental plants
In the flowerbeds located along the perimeter of the garden, there are some collections of ornamental plants (Hedera – ivy, Hydrangea – hydrangea, Hosta – hosta, Helleborus – hellebore, Paeonia – peony, Rosa – rose, Viola – violet), flowering bulbous spring (Crocus – crocuses, Galanthus – snowdrops, Eranthis – cockfoot) and autumn (Sternbergia – yellow saffron).
4. Anthology of magical plants
In a flowerbed designed on a plot of esoteric suggestions, enriched with a stone fountain, symbol of the trinity, the main plants with magical, religious and mythological meanings are gathered. Magic is a metaphor of the relationship with nature, the foundation of the mental building that man erects against the indistinct, a stimulus for the knowledge of traditions often based on medicinal powers, or on taboos dictated by the effective danger of the vegetable. Not therefore an incentive to superstition.
5. Garden of the simple
The garden dedicated to medicinal plants follows a systematic criterion (Pignatti, 1982). The choice of species was based on the list of plants registered in the Official Pharmacopoeia of the Italian Republic, integrated with those present in ethnobotanical studies of Friuli-Venezia Giulia (Lokar, Poldini, Rossi), on historical lists (Marchesetti) and on research concerning the medicinal plants of the Austro-Hungarian Littoral (Tominz, 1881).
6. Lotus flowers
In the tanks there are various aquatic species including a collection of lotus flowers (Nelumbo sp.), in full bloom in July and August, with iridescent colors in shades of pink, white and yellow.
7. Food plants
After careful research on phytoalimurgia (nutrition with wild plants) it was possible to organize this area on the basis of the different growth environments of the individual species, so as to facilitate their recognition in nature.
8. Formal garden
In the tidy flowerbeds bordered by low box hedges, there are some collections of ornamental plants that bloom at different times of the year. The genera, represented here by many different species, are: Helleborus (hellebore – fi. II-IV), Narcissus (narcissus – fi. XI-V), Paeonia (shrub peony – fi. III-V), Iris (iris – fi. II-VII), Hydrangea (hydrangea – fi. IV-IX), Hosta (hosta – fi. V-VII), Rosa (rose – fi. V-X), Salvia (sage – fi. IV-XI).
9. Tinte d'erbe – Dye plants section
The decision to dedicate a sector to a collection of dyeing plants was born from the desire to make known some of the main species historically used by dyers, which are flanked by the spontaneous ones of more limited and local use, and the exotic ones that badly tolerate our rigid winters and must be protected in greenhouses.
10. Useful plants
Following a careful restoration of the structures and the roads, this section will host the main "man's plants", i.e. those which for different uses (food, cosmetics, textiles) have accompanied the history and vicissitudes of humanity.
11. The poisonous garden – Poisonous plants trail
This guided tour allows us to get to know some poisonous plants more closely. For each of them scientific information is provided, accompanied by curiosities and uses. The path also aims to highlight the good things poison contains: the therapeutic uses of the various toxic substances are reported in the pharmacological notes mentioned on the label.
12. Geo-paleontological path
Path made up of about twenty stops representing the most common rocks and fossils of the Trieste Karst.

 

Trieste Civic Museums

(Clickable links)

 

• Revoltella Museum - Gallery of Modern Art

• Oriental Art Museum

• Museum of History and Art

• Lapidary Garden

• Tergestino Lapidary

• Foiba di Basovizza

• Museum of the Risiera di San Sabba

• Museum "Diego de Henriquez"

• National History Museum

• Museum of the Risorgimento and the Oberdan Memorial

• Postal and Telegraphic Museum of Central Europe

• Campo Marzio Railway Museum

• Sartorio Museum

• Morpurgo Museum

• Joyciano Museum

• Swabian Museum

• Petrarchesco Piccolomineo Museum

• Carlo Schmidl Theater Museum

• Natural History Museum

• Aquario Marino

• Museum of the sea

• Botanical Garden

 

 

Attractions in the surroundings and in the FVG region

Carsiana

The Carsiana Botanical Garden, dedicated to the flora and environments of the Karst. It collects 600 plant species from the Italian and Slovenian Karst, located in their respective natural environments. It is located in the Carso on the Trieste plateau, in Sgonico. http://www.carsiana.eu/

 

The Cave of the God Mitra

The cave of Mithras, in the sources of the Timavo, is a precious relic of the past, a window into the earliest history. It is a natural cavity in which the mystery cult of the god Mithras was practiced, widespread in the Roman world from the end of the 1st century until the triumph of Christianity. In the center of the cave there are two parallel counters and between them a block of limestone, squared, on which bread was broken during religious ceremonies.
On the back wall there is a cast of a tombstone supported by columns: it depicts the god Mithras killing the primeval bull. This is how the dedication reads: "Aulus Tullius Paumnianus offers to the uninvited god Mitra for his health and that of his brothers". In addition, many offerings have been found in the cave: about 400 coins, the oldest of which was minted by Antoninus Pius, 160 oil lamps and a large number of jars, all dating back to between the 1st and 5th centuries AD.
The Mitreo di Duino temple is the only one in the world to be located in a cave and is one of the oldest ever discovered.

The cave of the God Mithras is rather hidden but easy to access. It is about two kilometers from the sources of the Timavo, in the direction of Duino. Take the state road 14, up to the crossroads that leads to the center of Duino.

By appointment with the Superintendency of Fine Arts: the Temple of Mithras, the only Mithraic-hypogean temple found in Europe, and probably one of the most complete and complete. To visit the Grotta del Mitreo in Duino: http://www.turismofvg.it/Siti-Archeologi/Grotta-del-Mitreo

 

The Celtic Hypogeum

To visit the Celtic Hypogeum Cividale: http://www.turismofvg.it/Siti-Archeologici/Ipogeo-Celtico

 

- Area of ​​the Foci del Timavo and San Giovanni in Tuba

 

To find out more, visit the website www.retecivica.trieste.it and www.regione.fvg.it