The roman theatre
Trieste or Tergeste, which probably dates back to the
protohistoric period, was enclosed by walls built in 33-32 BC upon
Emperor Octavius's orders.
The Roman theatre lies at the foot of the San Giusto hill,
facing the sea. The construction partially exploits the gentle
slope of the hill.
The theatre (1st to 2nd century AD.) could accommodate up to
3,500 spectators, and was built almost entirely of masonry, except
for the stage, which was made of wood.
The ornamental statues and plaques that decorated the theatre
are now at the Orto Lapidario (Civic Museum of History and Art)
The Arch of Richard
Arch of Riccardo (33 BC). It is an Augustan gate built in the
Roman walls in 33. It stands in Piazzetta Barbacan, in the narrow
streets of the old town.
Various origins have been attributed to the name Riccardo. Some
recall legendary events like the passage of Charlemagne or Richard
the Lionheart into this city, while other, perhaps more reliable,
sources suggest a derivation of the term "Cardo", the Latin name of
one of the two main axes around which Roman towns were built, the
other being the Decumanus.
The first religious edifice on the site was built in the 6th
century on some Roman Propylaea using part of the existing
structure.
Between the 9th and 11th centuries, two basilicas were erected
on the ruins of the old church.
The cathedral is dominated by a delicately worked Gothic rose
window, as ornate as the new bell tower, using the Romanesque
debris stones found on the site and friezes of arms
San Giusto Cathedral
In the cathedral are the apsidal mosaics depicting Our Lady of
the Assumption and Saint Just, laid by master craftsmen from Veneto
in the 12th-13th centuries. The small 14th-century church of San
Giovanni (Saint John), the old baptistry) on the left and San
Michele al Carnale on the right, by the entrance to the museum,
complete a fine medieval churchyard.
San Giusto Castle
San Giusto Castle
In the prehistoric age on the hill of San Giusto there was a
castelliere (fortified borough), which in the Roman age became an
important urban centre. The fortress, built by the Venetians in the
Middle Ages, was pulled down in the 14th century by will of the
Patriarch of Aquileia and, in 1470 only, it was rebuilt by
Friedrich II of Habsburg; the square tower and the two-storey
building, which today houses the Castle Museum, date back to this
period.
