A brief history of Trieste
Trieste has a rich history dating back to the third millennium BC, and was once visited by Jason and the Argonauts. Integrated into the Roman Republic in 178 BC, the city, then called Tergeste, boasts Roman ruins. Despite these ancient roots, most of its architecture is from its golden age under Austrian rule. Empress Maria Theresa heavily invested in the city, making it the Habsburg Empire's sole seaport and briefly outshining Venice.
After being annexed to Italy in 1918, Trieste faced upheaval. Mussolini suppressed its ethnic diversity, particularly targeting the Slovene community. Lying between Latin and Slavic cultures, the city has long been politically turbulent. It was a hub for Italian irredentism, a nationalist movement aiming to reclaim Austrian lands. During WWII, it was occupied by Germans and later became a “Free Territory” under Allied administration. In 1954, it was split between Italy and Yugoslavia.
The definitive border was only settled in 1975, leaving Trieste in Italy but its hinterland, Istria, in Yugoslavia. This division led to massive migrations, with large Italian populations leaving Istria. The Slovene majority around Trieste found themselves marginalized as Italians dominated. Over the last sixty years, however, both groups have intermingled, making Trieste a multicultural Italian city.
James Joyce in Trieste
From 1905 to 1915, and again in 1919–20, James Joyce and his wife Nora lived in Trieste. After staying at Piazza Ponterosso 3 for a month, they moved to the third-floor flat at Via San Nicolò 30. He supported himself by teaching English at the Berlitz school where his most famous pupil was the Italian writer Italo Svevo.
While living here he wrote The Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and started work on Ulysses. He lived a somewhat peripatetic life and you can visit his many homes and old haunts by picking up the walking-tour guide from the tourist office. After staying at Piazza Ponterosso 3 for a month, the Joyces moved to a third-floor flat at Via San Nicolò 30.
There’s a plaque in Via San Nicolò, and one at Via Bramante 4, quoting the postcard Joyce despatched in 1915 to his brother Stanislaus, whose Irredentist sympathies had landed him in an Austrian internment camp. The postcard announced that the first chapter of Ulysses was finished. Don’t miss the wry bronze statue of the writer, strolling bemusedly across the little canal bridge of Via Roma.