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Trieste

Port and administrative capital of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy, on the Adriatic coast, opposite Venice; population (2001) 211,200. It is the largest seaport on the Adriatic, extending for 13 km/8 mi along the Gulf of Trieste. There are large shipyards, and an oil pipeline linked with refineries in Germany and Austria. It is the site of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, established in 1964.

History

Trieste was under Austrian rule from 1382 (apart from Napoleonic occupation 1809-14) until it transferred to Italy in 1918. It became an Austrian crownland in 1867, and capital of Kustenland. It was claimed after World War II by Yugoslavia, and established as a Free Post in 1947. The town and surrounding territory were divided in 1954 between Italy and Yugoslavia. The territory is now part of Slovenia.

Architecture The town is dominated by the hill of S Guisto; the saint was martyred at Trieste in 303, and is patron of the town. Buildings on the heights include the 14th-century cathedral; the 16th-century castle, restored in 1936; and Roman remains. The old town, with its steep and narrow streets, extends down the hill to the main square, the Piazza dell'Unita d'Italia, site of the town hall, and government and shipping offices. The modern quarter on the seafront is spacious and well laid out. In the Piazza dell Borsa there is a Roman theatre.

Economy Trieste was a free port from 1719, and developed rapidly during the 19th century as an important outlet for Austria. Today there are shipyards, iron and steel works, and oil refineries. Machinery, textiles, foodstuffs, spirits, paper, and paints are manufactured. The town is a centre for shipping and marine insurance services.

Early history Tergeste was settled by the Romans in 178 BC, and became a prosperous port in the 1st century AD. The Romans were followed by the Ostrogoths, the Byzantines, and the Lombards, and eventually the city became part of the empire of Charlemagne. In the 13th and 14th centuries, it was controlled by Venice, and in 1382 submitted to Austrian suzerainty.

Post-World War II Occupied by Yugoslav forces at the end of World War II, the western side of the Istrian peninsula, including the city of Trieste, was established as a Free Territory under the United Nations in 1947. It comprised the town and an Adriatic coastal strip, 50 km/31 mi long and varying in width from 3.5 km/2 mi in the north (at Duino) to 25 km/15 mi in the south. The Free Territory was bounded on the landward side by Yugoslavia except in the extreme northwest, where it had a 3 km/2 mi common frontier with Italy. When the arrangement proved unworkable, the territory was divided into a British-American administrative zone and a Yugoslav zone, the former being reincorporated into Italy in 1954.

Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Tergeste

Trieste