With its blend of Italian, Austro-Hungarian, and Slovenian influences, Trieste is a treasure borne from water – a real-life Atlantis …
National Geographic
Like many coastal cities Trieste has been shaped by its associations with the sea. Fishermen, traders and today cruise ship sightseers have all found ‘treasure’ here.
At some point in the future I’ll share a fuller account of our visit to Trieste, probably across several posts. But I’m going to put it on the back burner for now to concentrate on our recent Caucasus trip. However before I do so I thought I’d share a few highlights, and John’s Lens Artists challenge looking at landmarks and monuments gives me an extra reason to do so. He’s asked us to stick to six images, never easy for me! But I’ve chosen six of the city’s most significant and/or interesting sights and sneaked an extra one in as my feature photo.
Note
As an aside, is anyone else experiencing some issues with WordPress log-ins? I’m finding that I have to keep logging into friends’ sites which previously would have ‘remembered’ me. And I’m getting many more anonymous comments, most of which I suspect are from regular followers. I’ve double-checked my settings and nothing has changed there, so I feel it must be WP. But is it just me??
Either way, please if you’re kind enough to leave a comment, for the time being can you add your name to it?
Canal Grande
This short but iconic canal was built between 1754 and 1756 to allow boats to come right into the city centre to unload their goods. It has become something of an emblem of the city and appears in numerous photos (including my sneaky extra feature photo!)
Teatro Romano
The theatre dates from the 1st to 2nd centuries AD. It could accommodate up to 3,500 spectators, and was built almost entirely of masonry, except for the wooden stage. It was only uncovered in 1938 during a period of major demolition and urban regeneration.
The Roman Forum & Cattedrale di San Giusto Martire
Two landmarks for the price of one! The forum on San Giusto Hill was the heart of Roman Tergeste. It was built in the late 1st century BC and early 1st century AD. Today it sits between the castle and cathedral. The latter was once two separate churches, built between the 9th and 11th centuries on the site of a 6th century church which was itself built on the ruins of a Roman temple. The first was dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption while the second, the city’s cathedral, was dedicated to San Giusto (Saint Justus). In the 14th century the two were combined to create the cathedral we see today.
Castello di San Giusto
There has probably been a fortification on this hill since ancient times, but this castle dates back to the surrender of the city to Habsburg Austria at the end of the 14th century. Some eighty years later the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III ordered the building of this fortress as a residence for the Imperial Captain, who was the representative of the Habsburgs in the city. It has never seen military action so is in very good condition.
Basilica del Cristo Salvatore e di San Silvestro
This church dates back to the 11th/12th centuries and is the oldest church in Trieste. Inside it has the remains of some early 14th century frescoes. Today it is home to the Helvetic and Waldensian Evangelical communities.
Palazzo del Municipio in the Piazza Unità d’Italia
The huge Piazza Unità d’Italia is the city’s main square and claims to be the largest sea-facing square in Europe. It was built during the period when Trieste was the most important seaport of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire and is surrounded by some of the city’s most striking buildings, including this, the Palazzo del Municipio (City Hall).
I visited Trieste in September 2026
12 Comments
Pamela Zmija Photography
Beautiful Sarah
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Pamela 😊
Anonymous
Beautiful images of Trieste. Did you see Joyce too? Have you been to Miramare castle as well?Tanja
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Tanja 🙂 Yes we saw Joyce – I would have included him here were it not for the six image limit! But not Miramare, other than from a distance. The weather was so hot we took our sightseeing at a very leisurely pace and never made it that far!
Anonymous
Sarah, beautiful images, and looking forward to more. Regarding WP, I keep having to log in also–frustrating. I believe their programmers aren’t doing the best job, but they are basically the only platform to use for our blogging reach.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you for the nice comment 🙂 And it’s good to know I’m not the only one having issues at the moment. But again you haven’t included your name so I have no idea whom I’m talking to!
Sue
I have never been to Trieste, interesting seeing these few images, looking forward to more. As for WordPress and m, logging in to comme is a pain, you are not alone!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Sue 🙂 Glad to know I’m not alone, but it’s got much worse in the last few days!
Anonymous
I’ve been enjoying your travels on Facebook, you’ve taken some fantastic photos. This is a good challenge to showcase some of your photos.
About the log in, it depends on what device I use. My phone is the best although I don’t get the full appreciation as I do on the computer. My iPad is the worst and it all depends on what blogger it is also. Something to do with your settings maybe?
Alison
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much Alison, and for following along on Facebook 😊
No, as I said, it’s not my settings. I haven’t changed anything and I double-checked to make sure they hadn’t changed without me doing anything! And I’ve always seen that it’s you, and not needed to moderate, regardless of what device you use I think. The same is true of many other commenters, until the last few days 😠
Yvonne Dumsday
As I have never been to Trieste – I enjoyed your “taster” selection and look forward to seeing whatever other treasures you captured through your lens.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Yvonne 🙂 I’ll share more about Trieste in due course but for the next few weeks/months plan to focus more on our Caucasus trip.