Much of the graceful city-centre area north of Corso Italia dates to the 18th-century reign of Empress Maria Theresa, including the photogenic Canal Grande. Reflecting centuries of religious tolerance, it's here you'll also find the mosaic-laden 1868 Serbian Orthodox Chiesa di Santo Spiridione juxtaposed with the neoclassical 1842 Catholic Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Taumaturgo. On the Via Roma bridge stands a life-sized statue of James Joyce; Piazza Hortis is home to a similar bronze of Italo Svevo.
© Dario Argenti/Shutterstock
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
11.73 MILES
What attracts most people to this little church is the famous Dance of Death or Danse Macabre, a fresco that shows 11 skeletons leading the same number of…
Basilica di Santa Maria Assunta
21.03 MILES
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…
22.72 MILES
The jaw-dropping Postojna Cave system, a series of caverns, halls and passages some 24km long and two million years old, was hollowed out by the Pivka…
10.54 MILES
Touring the huge, spectacular subterranean chambers of the 6km-long Škocjan Caves is a must. This remarkable cave system was carved out by the Reka River,…
20.5 MILES
Predjama Castle, 9km from Postojna, is one of Europe's most dramatic castles. It teaches a clear lesson: if you want to build an impregnable fortification…
5.32 MILES
The stud farm can be visited on very popular, 50-minute guided tours. The interesting, informative tours are available in a number of languages; a tour…
4.49 MILES
Sitting on a rocky outcrop 7km from Trieste, Castello di Miramare is the city's elegiac bookend, the fanciful neo-Gothic home of the hapless Archduke…
0.62 MILES
This extraordinary house-museum was the home of wealthy Triestini merchant Pasquale Revoltella, who made his fortune in the timber industry and had a hand…
Nearby Trieste attractions
0.05 MILES
James Joyce's presence in the city is palpable, but if you're not feeling it, this bronze statue will help. He's often surrounded by Irish visitors and…
2. Civico Museo Teatrale Carlo Schmidl
0.1 MILES
Trieste's long-standing cultural cred is documented at this museum, housed inside the grand Palazzo Gopcevich, with a collection that traces the city's…
0.11 MILES
Constructed from pearly white Istrian stone in 1868, the Serbian Orthodox church has a typical Byzantine style, its large central dome flanked by four…
4. Chiesa di Sant'Antonio Taumaturgo
0.16 MILES
Sitting at the end of the so-called ‘Grand Canal’, the Church of Sant’Antonio is Trieste’s most instagrammable monument. Built between 1825 and 1849, its…
0.27 MILES
Behind Piazza dell’Unità d’Italia rise remains of the Roman theatre, which was built between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Concerts are held here…
0.29 MILES
A small, highly prized collection of liturgical items, textiles, documents and photographs, including a touching number of personal items stolen by Nazi…
0.29 MILES
This vast public space – Italy's largest sea-facing piazza – is an elegant triumph of Austro-Hungarian town planning and contemporary civil pride…
0.37 MILES
This imposing and richly decorated neoclassical synagogue, built in 1912, is testament to Trieste's once significant Jewish community. Heavily damaged…