Casa delle Culture

The graffitti painted by Croatian artist Daniel Zezelj outside the Casa delle Culture in via Orlandini.

Ponziana District

Brightly coloured blocks of flats in Ponziana district. On the left, you can just make out a graffitti on the white wall of the Via Orlandini Culture House. We'll be seeing it close up in the near future. In the background, between the light blue and orange buildings, is the San Giovanni Bosco church.

Scala J.J. Winckelmann

The Johann Joachim Winckelmann steps take you from Piazza del Sansovino up to San Giusto castle.

Winckelmann, a scholar of ancient history and classic art and deemed the founder of modern history of art and father of archaeology, unfortunately met his death in Trieste.
On his way back from a trip to Vienna, where he had been to a reception held in his honour by the Empress Maria Theresa, Winckelmann spent some time in Trieste, waiting to board the next craft to set sail for Rome. He was staying at an inn called the Locanda Grande, when he met a chef called Francesco Arcangeli. The chef subsequently attacked him with a knife on the morning of June 8th 1768, to rob him of the medals that Maria Theresa had given him. Winckelmann died after seven hours of agony. His murderer was then killed 42 days later at the same time, in front of the very same inn.

Gasometro

The former gas holder, a classic example of nineteenth century industrial architecture, which has long since been disembowelled of its enormous cistern, has been standing unused for many years now. One day maybe, it'll be turned into a planetarium, a congress centre, or a museum. We'll just have to wait and see.

Pictorialism

A tribute to pictorial photography

Skywatch Friday post

Sunset seen from Piščanci.

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Merry Christmas!

Still stuck in the timber terminal far from the festive frenzy.

500

A red FIAT500 parked in the timber terminal. Just like the one my wife used to have. A dream! ... Of course "our other car is a Porsche" !

Molo Audace on a clear day

Molo Audace on a clear day, with the mountains in the background.
(Other photos of the jetty in different weather conditions here and here)

Drop the litter and run

Stairs leading from Largo Sonnino to Via Molino a Vento.

Giardino Basevi

The Basevi garden is located in the area of San Giacomo.
In 1839 the garden was bought by the Triestinian deputy of the Vienna Parliament, Giuseppe Basevi. He donated it to the Municipality of Trieste in 1898.
You can find one of the entrances half way up the Dublin steps.

I received these 2 awards from a great photographer tr3nta (thank you!), and am delighted to pass them on to 8 other bloggers:

Dal barbecue ai bobici

Lexington Daily Photo

Gabriola Daily Photo

Blanco y Negro... y Que?!

My Manila

Nice Daily Photo

Humanobserver

Palo Verdes Daily Photo

Gin palace

A gin palace moored along the seafront in the centre of town.

Skywatch Friday post

On the skyline, embraced by the heavy clouds you can just make out the fortress and church of Monrupino, a village of about 850 inhabitants, situated in the Province of Trieste located about 9 km north of the city, on the border with Slovenia.

See more Skywatch here.

Police Station

Following "University of Trieste" comes another example of Italian architecture during the fascist regime: the police station.

The magic box

Following "CIAO!!" comes "The magic box"

Oil tanker and mussel farm

Following breakwater and buoy comes oil tanker and mussel farm.

Arco di Riccardo

The "Arco di Riccardo" is an Augustan gate built in the Roman walls in 33 A.D. It stands in Piazzetta Barbacan, in the narrow lanes of the old town.

The edifices which used to embrace the western abutment were demolished in 1913, and it has been visible ever since. The eastern abutment on the other hand is still walled up inside a modern building.

Petrified robots

The "Torrioni di Monrupino" are calcareous tower-like formations 10 m (33 feet) high, consisting of a rock mainly composed of fragmented shells, especially bivalves, cemented with calcite. The towers are a particularly interesting natural phenomenon because they undergo less corrosion by rainwater and have remained isolated from surrounding calcareous surfaces, which are more easily soluble. In addition, this rocky outcrop is settled in a saddle, where washing away is more intense: insoluble residuals of carbonate rocks do not remain in their original place, causing a greater difference in height between the towers and the surrounding field. The result is an impressive natural monument.

Palazzo del Ministero dei Lavori Pubblici. Via del Teatro Romano, 17
Is there a perfect pair?

Skywatch Friday post

Another photo from the Conconello village, this time taken with a wide angle lens.

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Bollard

One of the eighteenth-century stone bollards where sailing ships used to moor along Canal Grande.

The navigable canal was built in 1754-1756 so that sailing vessels could reach the centre of the city to load and unload goods.

Cupola

The parish church of S.M.Maggiore - Saint Mary the Great - also known as the "church of the Jesuits", is one of the largest holy buildings and one of the most important monuments of the baroque period in Trieste.

The octagonal hemispheric cupola, which was erected at the crossing of the central nave with the transept by Giovanni Righetti in the years 1816-1817, ends in a lantern figure with rosette decorations in octagonal corners. On the four aigrettes of the arches are the four Evangelists painted in tempera on plaster, the work of Giuseppe Bernardino Bison (1762-1844) from Palmanova.

Birdseye view

From Conconello village, a little slice of Trieste taken with a zoom lens.

Clear day

The view from San Leonardo Hill

On a clear day like yesterday you can see the Friulana plain and the Alps from the Karst highlands surrounding the city.

You can also, unfortunately, quite clearly see the plume of fumes rising up from the ghastly factory stuck in the middle of cultivated fields, right next to the motorway linking Trieste to Udine.

Scala Dublino

The Dublin steps which go from Via San Giacomo in Monte to Via Besenghi, were previously called the Joyce steps, as the renowned writer lived close by, in the third floor appartment where he began writing one of his most acclaimed works, Ulysses.

DJ Ash

This is one of several images decorating the building site boards surrounding a burnt-down seaside bar. I particularly like this one as it looks as if it has risen up from the ashes of the fire, as will the new bar being built.

Skywatch Friday post

Jonathan

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University of Trieste

The main building situated high up on one of the many hills in Trieste.

Jazera

“Jazera” ( ice box)

These wooden framed windows called "jazere" (ice box) which stick out from the facade of the building are a rare sight now, but they used to serve two purposes: the glass pane underneath was so people could see who was in the street without having to open the window and catch cold in winter.
And as it was exposed to the cold and to the Bora wind, it was a cheap and ecological fridge to keep perishable food in.

The jazere are disappearing now, but a web radio stationed in Trieste has been inspired by them: www.lajazera.net.

Long live the protofridge!

Love is . . .

This crane has got his eye on his next-door neighbour - just look at that body language, there are definitely some tender feelings there!

I'm afraid the giraffe in the video is going to get his heart broken, Federico (see post and comments)

Theme day: Circles/Spheres

"Wheel of the Thirteen Families"

In Trieste, as in other cities during the course of the 13th century, different brotherhoods were set up; some were strictly devotional while others were for the social and organizational needs of various crafts.
Among these there is still the memory of that of the thirteen noble families from Trieste, who claimed they were descended from local Roman aristocrats.
According to the tradition they got together on 2nd February 1246 to form the Brotherhood of St. Francis, later called the Thirteen Families, at the church of St. Francis of the Friars Minor, where today there is the church of the Beata Vergine del Soccorso (S.Antonio Vecchio) in Piazza Hortis.
The thirteen families were Argento, Baseggio, Belli, Bonomo, Burlo, Cigotti, Giuliani, Leo, Padovino, Pellegrini, Petazzi, Stella and Toffani.
They were all merchant families and earned their living from salt works, farming, vineyards and the ownership of land and property.

The brotherhood had a closed number of 40 members and no member from another aristocratic family was accepted.
It was suppressed, with other brotherhoods, in 1773 on the orders of Emperor Joseph II. They were always involved in civic institutions and some members distinguished themselves outside Trieste too.
The first family to die out was the Toffani family at the end of the 16th century and the last one was the Burlo family in 1918.

The so called "Wheel of the Thirteen Families", made in stone, comes from a monument which was built by the sculptor Ivan Rendic to commemorate the fifth centenary of the Dedication of Trieste to Austria (1882), inaugurated on 25th March 1889 in the square in front of the station (which is now Piazza della Libertà) and demolished in 1919.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Fountain

Via S.Giusto.

One of the few stone drinking fountains still standing.
Originally there was a foot pedal for controlling the flow of water, but the old system was removed and has been replaced by a tap which is, of course, simpler, but much less romantic.

Ciao !!

Via S.Giusto.

Everything has been tidied up and renovated on S.Giusto hill to please the tourists, but if you look carefully you can still find some places nicely eroded by time.

The lion and the crane

Will he leap or won't he?

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Underpass

As far as I'm aware, this is the only underpass in Trieste. It leads straight from the railway station to Piazza Libertà.
Just like all proper underpasses, it is dark, dank and covered in graffiti, murals and peeling posters and to be honest I think most people take their chance with the traffic above ground!

Statuary

A terracotta statue symbolizing agriculture in the Formal Garden situated in front of the "Flower Greenhouse" at Villa Revoltella.

Serra dei fiori

The "Flower Greenhouse", built in Neo-Gothic style between 1858 and 1862, inside the splendid park surrounding Villa Revoltella, today hosts contemporary art exhibitions.

Last Sunday there was the vernissage of Renata Bonfanti's exhibition "Intrecci", but unfortunately I arrived too late for the banquet, which had already been guzzled up.

I was, however, just in time for the beautiful late afternoon light...

Villa Revoltella

As well as donating the palazzo which is now a museum bearing his name, Baron Revoltella also bequeathed his country villa to the city.

Built like an alpine chalet, the villa lies at the top of a hill overlooking the whole town, and is surrounded by a magnificent garden.

Through the pillars

Piazza Sant'Antonio again, where you met our friend the Tuareg, but this time peeking out from behind the pillars in front of Chiesa Sant'Antonio. To the right you can see the cupola of the Serbian Orthodox church and the first building on the left is the Stella Polare café, one of the several historic cafés in town.

The golden hour

Skywatch Friday post

Looking along the Barcola seafront promenade the other way, towards the Miramare castle which you can glimpse in the distance.

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Seafront promenade

The Barcola seafront heaves with people of all ages in bikinis and bathing suits, lounging on sunbeds or strolling up and down the promenade, from April till late September. The hedge you can see on the right was planted there a few years ago, to hide their glistening suntanned bodies from the view of drivers cruising along the main road leading into Trieste, to avoid accidents!
In the distance you can just make out the town and the lighthouse.