Things to do in Friuli Venezia Giulia
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Museo Revoltella
Baron Pasquale Revoltella (1795–1869) would be pleased. He not only left his three-storey neo-Renaissance mansion to Trieste, but also his private collection of then-contemporary art. With this and a hefty financial bequest from Revoltella, the Museo Revoltella was born in 1872. The city expanded the collection into two neighbouring buildings. Revoltella’s house retains the atmosphere and furnishings of the baron’s time. The baron’s flamboyant taste fills the gaudy rooms, with their chandeliers, gilded plaster, silk wallpaper and gold curtains. His collection of 19th-century Italian paintings and marble sculptures of nudes is on show here. The modern section, Palazzo …
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Basilica
The entire floor of the Latin cross-shaped basilica, rebuilt after an earthquake in 1348, is covered with one of the largest and most spectacular Roman-era mosaics in the world. The 760-sq-metre floor of the basilica’s 4th-century predecessor is protected by transparent glass walkways, allowing visitors to wander above the long-hidden images, which include episodes from the story of Jonah and the whale, the Good Shepherd, depictions of various sea creatures and birds, and portraits of, presumably, the wealthy Roman patrons of this early Christian church.
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Castello di San Giusto
Often overlooked in favour of Trieste’s emblematic Castello di Miramare, the sturdy 15th-century Castello di San Giusto sits atop a strategic hill where it was built by Trieste’s Venetian rulers over older fortifications. The castle contains a recently renovated museum and armoury with a raft of exhibits, including suits of armour and other weapons. You can also wander around the walls and pop into the Lapidario Tergestino with its modest jumble of statuary and architectural fragments.
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Oratorio della Purità
The Oratorio della Purità has a beautiful ceiling painting of the Assumption by Giambattista Tiepolo, and eight biblical scenes in chiaroscuro by Giandomenico Tiepolo on the walls. The building had been raised as a theatre in 1680 but the patriarch of Aquileia had it transformed 80 years later out of repugnance for such a devilish institution so close to Udine's 13th-century cathedral. Ask in the cathedral for a guided tour (free) of the oratory, which is otherwise generally not open.
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Grotta Gigante
The Grotta Gigante is near Villa Opicina, 5km northeast of Trieste. At 107m high, 280m long and 65m wide, the ‘giant grotto’ is one of the continent’s largest accessible caves – St Peter’s Basilica in Rome could fit inside. Nearly 500 steps lead you down into its eerily lit vault replete with stunning stalagmites. Take bus 42 from Piazza Oberdan, or tram 2 – the scenic choice that has covered the 5.2km journey since 1902 – to Villa Opicina, then bus 42 to the cave.
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Risiera di San Sabba
The San Sabba rice-husking plant sounds like a harmless location, but in 1944 the Germans, with local Fascist help, built a crematorium here and turned it into Italy’s only extermination camp. It is believed 20,000 people perished here, including 5000 of Trieste’s 6000 Jews. Yugoslav partisans closed it when they liberated the city in 1945, and 20 years later it became a national monument and museum. Take bus 8 from the train station.
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Caffè Tommaseo
Is it just the hallucinogenic effects of the cappuccino or did you just see James Joyce over there scribbling in a notebook, or Sigmund Freud twitching behind a newspaper, or Umberto Saba polishing off a prosciutto panini ? Virtually unchanged since its 1830 opening, the belle époque Tommaseo with its moulded ceiling and Viennese mirrors is full of literary ghosts that often play tricks with the tired, delusional or over-caffeinated.
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Civico Museo Teatrale Carlo Schmidl
At the south edge of Borgo Teresiano, take time for the Civico Museo Teatrale Carlo Schmidl, housed in the grand Palazzo Gopcevich. It retraces the history of theatre and music in Trieste to the 18th century, with an engaging collection of historical instruments on the 1st and 2nd floors and a collection of signatures of such greats as Gioacchino Rossini, Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini.
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Biblioteca Civica
Three small museums call the Biblioteca Civica home. The Museo Civico di Storia Naturale displays a musty array of stuffed animals and bones. Literature fans can poke about documents and other memorabilia linked to two great 20th-century novelists in the Museo Joyce and the adjacent Museo Svevo. James Joyce wrote some of his masterpieces in Trieste, and lugubrious local boy Italo Svevo wrote all of his in the city.
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Civico Museo di Storia ed Arte ed Orto Lapidario
The Civico Museo di Storia ed Arte ed Orto Lapidario unites a host of mostly Roman antiquities unearthed in and around Trieste and Aquileia. The more delicate items of Roman, Greek, Egyptian and prehistoric art and artefacts are spread over two floors, while the Orto Lapidario (Stone Garden) is a potluck assembly of more weather-resistant stone finds. Take bus 24 from the train station.
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Basilica di San Giusto
The Basilica di San Giusto, completed in 1400, is the synthesis of two earlier Christian basilicas in a blend of the Ravenna and Byzantine styles. The interior contains 13th-century frescoes and a mosaic from the same period depicting St Justus, the town’s patron saint. The Virgin and Child and the Apostles appear on another wonderfully preserved 12th-century mosaic.
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Mascalzone Latino
Just arrived from down south and been flummoxed by all that bratwurst and beer? Fear not, Napoli’s never far away. Run by native Neapolitans, this colourful old town palazzo replicates the spirit of Campania right down to the decorative lines of washing strung up from the rafters. At table level it’s all about pizzas, pasta and paper cones full of chunky chips.
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Circus
A rather quirky hangout for sometimes over-serious Trieste, Circus lives up to its colourful name with a vaguely big-top decor mixed with old-time movie paraphernalia. It’s a great lunch stop with its ample panini (€4 to €5), huge bowls of salad (€5) and a selection of nicely priced primi (first courses). The atmosphere’s cool but not haughty.
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Teatro Romano
Smack-bang in the middle of the modern city, this remarkably well-preserved 2000-year-old Roman theatre was discovered during excavation for public works in 1938. Built into the hillside, with a capacity of up to 6000 people, it would have originally sat directly on the shore facing out to sea, but silting has moved the shoreline.
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Trattoria agli Amici
It is worth making the trek out of central Udine to this classic of traditional and creative cooking, which the Scarello family has run successfully since 1887. Try the ravioli di formaggi di malga, trippe ed ortaggi croccanti (a cheese-filled dumping with tripe and crispy vegetables). The tasting menu is tempting.
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Caffè San Marco
Young bloggers mix with 90-year-old former children of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at this dark mahogany haven where dexterous waiters balance coffee cups on silver trays and nothing much has changed since 1949 – or even 1909. The only thing missing is the atmospheric fug of cigarette smoke – a kind of blessing in disguise.
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Galleria d’Arte Antica
The Galleria d’Arte Antica has a handful of works by Caravaggio (there is a portrait of St Francis in room 7), Carpaccio (with a work showing the adoration of Christ’s blood in room 3) and Tiepolo (several works in room 10). The bulk of the collection is dedicated to lesser-known Friulian painters and religious sculpture.
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Acquario Marino
Barely 100m from Piazza Venezia stands the waterfront Acquario Marino, where you can view some of the denizens of the Adriatic deep, as well as tropical fish. The former fish market (1913), which fills the southern half of the building, is being developed as a future exhibition space.
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Porto Fluviale
Scattered remnants of the Roman town include extensive ruins of the Porto Fluviale, the old port, which once linked the settlement to the sea. Also free to visit are the partially restored remains of houses, road and the standing columns of the ancient Forum on Via Giulia Augusta.
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Lapidario Tergestino
With commanding views across city and sea, the Colle di San Giusto is topped by a sturdy 15th-century castello, largely built over earlier fortifications by the city's Venetian rulers. Wander around the walls and pop into the Lapidario Tergestino with its modest jumble of statuary and architectural fragments.
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Arco Bollani
The Arco Bollani, next to the Loggia di San Giovanni, was designed by Andrea Palladio in 1556 and leads up to the castle used by the Venetian governors. The way is lined by the Porticato del Lippomano, a late-15th century portico raised along the length of one of the city's former defensive walls.
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Trattoria Blanch
Set among fields, this wonderful country-house trattoria with a leafy garden is located 1km north of the centre of Mossa (a village 5km west of Gorizia and known as a centre of asparagus production). It has been in the same family since 1904, and specialises (in season) in game and mushrooms.
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Galleria d’Arte Moderna
The Modern Art Gallery was established in 1885 after a rich Udinese merchant left his estate to the city. Since then, the gallery has absorbed other collections as well. It features works by well-known 20th-century Italian artists, such as De Chirico, Severini and Morandi.
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Civico Museo Sartorio
The Civico Museo Sartorio offers a varied collection of art, applied arts and jewellery. During restoration work, beautiful ceiling frescoes, some dating to the late 18th century, were uncovered, along with remains of the mosaic floor of a Roman house (domus).
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Buffet Rudy
Come to Rudy for a lesson in Triestine gnocchi that is nothing like the familiar pasta-covered potato balls you get in Rome or Turin. Resembling a big dumpling made from potato or bread (you choose), these Friulian classics are served in a tangy goulash sauce. Cancel that dessert.
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