My tour usually starts at the popular Molo Audace Pier located in the center of Trieste. Walking just a few steps across the road, the tour arrives at one of the most beautiful Italian piazzas, the Piazza Unità d’Italia. Its waterside location offers a beautiful sight of the Adriatic Sea.
Next there follows a somewhat challenging walk from the Piazza Unità d’Italia up to the top of San Giusto Hill. The tour stops to visit the Romanesque San Silvestro Basilica and the Baroque Santa Maria Maggiore Church. Following the remains of the ancient Romans, we pass by the Arco di Riccardo. This was a Roman gate in the old defense wall that once served as the only entrance to the city.
Reaching the top of Colle di San Giusto offers visitors a sight of the vast Adriatic Sea and the limestone hills of Carso, or Karst plateau region. As we look towards the Castello di San Giusto and its Cattedrale, we can observe the remains of a Roman Basilica and the sculpture garden l’Orto Lapidario.
The tour sets off again, this time walking downhill, in the direction of the Borgo Teresiano area, passing by the Teatro Romano (the Roman Theater). The heart of the Borgo Teresiano quarter includes the Canale Grande, Sant’Antonio Taumaturgo (the largest Catholic church in Trieste) and the splendid Serbian Orthodox Church San Spiridion’. The sides of the Canale Grande are lined with magnificently elegant Neoclassical buildings of the 18th and 19th century. On the Ponte Rosso bridge, visitors are greeted by a life-size bronze statue of James Joyce.
The walking tour ends at the impressive Piazza della Borsa where visitors can linger and admire the Fontana del Nettuno, and other historical palaces representing a variety of artistic styles such as Baroque, Art Noveau and Italian rationalism.