Description
San Giusto Castle is the fortress on top of San Giusto Hill, next to the cathedral, above the old town. Today it is a civic museum, but for many the reason to climb up is the walk along the walls, with the whole city and the gulf at your feet.
You enter over a small drawbridge; the original medieval entrance is still clearly visible right beside it. The vestibule is full of historic plaques and inscriptions, with the coats of arms of Trieste's patrician families among old military banners.
Beyond the entrance hall opens the Cortile delle Milizie, built as a parade ground and now a summer stage for concerts and shows. From here a wide stone staircase climbs to the panoramic terrace, the wall walks and the entrance to the Armoury Museum.
In the Lalio bastion is the Lapidario Tergestino, opened in 2001: about 130 Roman-era pieces, including inscriptions, funerary monuments, sculptures, bas-reliefs and fragments of buildings from ancient Tergeste. The castle visit also takes in the chapel and the Sala Caprin.
The first castle was built by the Venetians between 1368 and 1371. After the city had placed itself under Austria, it was Emperor Frederick III who in 1470 ordered it strengthened, in the wake of 1469, remembered as “the year of the destruction of Trieste”.
The fortress then grew piece by piece, over two and a half centuries. In the early 16th century the Venetians, briefly masters again, added a high semicircular wall; then came the Lalio bastion, between 1551 and 1561, and last of all the Pomis bastion, in 1630.
In the 17th century there was a plan to enlarge it until it covered the whole hilltop, which would have meant demolishing the cathedral. All that remains of that plan are the foundations of a fourth bastion, never built, found underground beyond the basilica.
By an irony of history, this fortress built for war was used by the military only twice. In 1813 Napoleon's troops held out here for two weeks against a siege by the Austrian, British and Neapolitan fleets; in 1945 German soldiers surrendered here.
Its present look dates from the 1930s: in 1930 the castle passed to the city, and the Italian authorities, sensing its potential for tourism, had it restored. Beneath its walls run tunnels and rooms closed to the public, some still waiting to be explored.
Don't miss
• The walk along the wall walks.
• The Cortile delle Milizie.
• The Lapidario Tergestino.
Did you know?
• For decades one of the castle's cellars housed an elegant city-run restaurant.
You enter over a small drawbridge; the original medieval entrance is still clearly visible right beside it. The vestibule is full of historic plaques and inscriptions, with the coats of arms of Trieste's patrician families among old military banners.
Beyond the entrance hall opens the Cortile delle Milizie, built as a parade ground and now a summer stage for concerts and shows. From here a wide stone staircase climbs to the panoramic terrace, the wall walks and the entrance to the Armoury Museum.
In the Lalio bastion is the Lapidario Tergestino, opened in 2001: about 130 Roman-era pieces, including inscriptions, funerary monuments, sculptures, bas-reliefs and fragments of buildings from ancient Tergeste. The castle visit also takes in the chapel and the Sala Caprin.
The first castle was built by the Venetians between 1368 and 1371. After the city had placed itself under Austria, it was Emperor Frederick III who in 1470 ordered it strengthened, in the wake of 1469, remembered as “the year of the destruction of Trieste”.
The fortress then grew piece by piece, over two and a half centuries. In the early 16th century the Venetians, briefly masters again, added a high semicircular wall; then came the Lalio bastion, between 1551 and 1561, and last of all the Pomis bastion, in 1630.
In the 17th century there was a plan to enlarge it until it covered the whole hilltop, which would have meant demolishing the cathedral. All that remains of that plan are the foundations of a fourth bastion, never built, found underground beyond the basilica.
By an irony of history, this fortress built for war was used by the military only twice. In 1813 Napoleon's troops held out here for two weeks against a siege by the Austrian, British and Neapolitan fleets; in 1945 German soldiers surrendered here.
Its present look dates from the 1930s: in 1930 the castle passed to the city, and the Italian authorities, sensing its potential for tourism, had it restored. Beneath its walls run tunnels and rooms closed to the public, some still waiting to be explored.
Don't miss
• The walk along the wall walks.
• The Cortile delle Milizie.
• The Lapidario Tergestino.
Did you know?
• For decades one of the castle's cellars housed an elegant city-run restaurant.