Description
Miramare Castle is the residence Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg had built on the cliff above the Gulf of Trieste, on the Grignano promontory, about 6 km from the station. Inside it still has its original 19th-century furnishings; outside, a 22-hectare park by the sea.
Maximilian, brother of Emperor Franz Joseph and admiral of the Austrian navy, had it built from 1856 for himself and his wife, Charlotte of Belgium. The name comes from the Spanish “mirar el mar”, to look at the sea, in memory of the Spanish castles overlooking the Atlantic.
The ground floor was the couple's private apartment, in Neo-Gothic and Neo-Medieval style. The most curious room is Maximilian's study, looking out over the gulf and decorated like the inside of a ship: the archduke loved life at sea.
The rooms also include the music room, with the fortepiano Charlotte practised on, the throne room and a room with paintings by Cesare Dell'Acqua telling the story of Miramare. Another room displays a collection of Oriental vases.
The park was created on an almost bare Karst promontory. Maximilian, a keen botanist, had trees planted from half the world: cedars of Lebanon and the Himalayas, cypresses from California and Mexico, the giant sequoia and the ginkgo biloba.
It is an English-style garden, made of winding paths, ponds and lawns, with no monumental entrance avenue: it was meant as a private garden. Among the greenery are the Castelletto, the greenhouses, the ruins of the chapel of San Canciano and the swan lake.
From Miramare, on 14 April 1864, Maximilian and Charlotte sailed for Mexico on the frigate Novara: at Napoleon III's invitation he had become its emperor. In 1867 he was shot by firing squad in Querétaro, and the same ship brought his body back.
Charlotte had already returned to Trieste in 1866. She began to show signs of mental illness and was shut away in the Castelletto, where the couple had lived during the building works, before going back to her native Belgium.
In the 20th century the castle had other residents. From 1930 to 1937 it was home to Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, who furnished his rooms in Rationalist style and replaced the Habsburg insignia with Savoy crosses; then, until 1954, the headquarters of the occupying troops moved in.
Don't miss
• Maximilian's study.
• The throne room.
• The park and its exotic trees.
• The Castelletto.
Did you know?
• In the apse of the chapel of San Canciano, in the park, there is a cross made from the wood of the frigate Novara.
• Giosuè Carducci dedicated his 1878 ode “Miramar” to the castle, about Maximilian's tragic end.
Maximilian, brother of Emperor Franz Joseph and admiral of the Austrian navy, had it built from 1856 for himself and his wife, Charlotte of Belgium. The name comes from the Spanish “mirar el mar”, to look at the sea, in memory of the Spanish castles overlooking the Atlantic.
The ground floor was the couple's private apartment, in Neo-Gothic and Neo-Medieval style. The most curious room is Maximilian's study, looking out over the gulf and decorated like the inside of a ship: the archduke loved life at sea.
The rooms also include the music room, with the fortepiano Charlotte practised on, the throne room and a room with paintings by Cesare Dell'Acqua telling the story of Miramare. Another room displays a collection of Oriental vases.
The park was created on an almost bare Karst promontory. Maximilian, a keen botanist, had trees planted from half the world: cedars of Lebanon and the Himalayas, cypresses from California and Mexico, the giant sequoia and the ginkgo biloba.
It is an English-style garden, made of winding paths, ponds and lawns, with no monumental entrance avenue: it was meant as a private garden. Among the greenery are the Castelletto, the greenhouses, the ruins of the chapel of San Canciano and the swan lake.
From Miramare, on 14 April 1864, Maximilian and Charlotte sailed for Mexico on the frigate Novara: at Napoleon III's invitation he had become its emperor. In 1867 he was shot by firing squad in Querétaro, and the same ship brought his body back.
Charlotte had already returned to Trieste in 1866. She began to show signs of mental illness and was shut away in the Castelletto, where the couple had lived during the building works, before going back to her native Belgium.
In the 20th century the castle had other residents. From 1930 to 1937 it was home to Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, who furnished his rooms in Rationalist style and replaced the Habsburg insignia with Savoy crosses; then, until 1954, the headquarters of the occupying troops moved in.
Don't miss
• Maximilian's study.
• The throne room.
• The park and its exotic trees.
• The Castelletto.
Did you know?
• In the apse of the chapel of San Canciano, in the park, there is a cross made from the wood of the frigate Novara.
• Giosuè Carducci dedicated his 1878 ode “Miramar” to the castle, about Maximilian's tragic end.