“Trieste, perhaps more than other cities, is literature ». Word of the writer from Trieste Claudio Magris. The city loves its writers – his by birth or by choice – and has dedicated statues, museums, literary itineraries, urban and otherwise, to them. As the Rainer Maria Rilke trailnamed after the Bohemian poet, in Duino Cliffs Nature Reserve which, in two panoramic kilometers overlooking the Gulf of Trieste, from Sistiana it reaches Duino. There, in the Duino Castle, Rilke composed his celebrations in 1912 Duino Elegies.
Duino Castle, at the end of the Rilke Trail.
In the painter’s house-atelier
Trieste is a restless city (“it has a grumpy grace” wrote the poet Umberto Saba), but she does not forget who loved her. Like the multifaceted artist Anita Pittoni. This painter, stylist, poet, editor and theatrical costume designer, for several decades of the twentieth century welcomed in her home-atelier-studio many of the best talents of the time, futurists like Fortunato Depero, architects like Gio Ponti, writers like Umberto Saba and later Claudio Magris, in the constant aspiration to enrich the city culture. House of Anita Pittoni (via della Cassa di Risparmio 1), where she lived with the writer Giani Stuparich, is one of the stops on the literary itinerary of Trieste Metro.
Aperitif in an Art Nouveau setting
Caffè San Marco founded in 1914.
Slovenian, Serbian, Greek, German, Hebrew (Italo Svevo and Umberto Saba belonged to the Jewish community) are the most widely spoken languages, besides Italian, and each group has its church or temple here. “I love Trieste, people live there so different that I feel like I’m traveling even if I’m still” says Alexandros Delithanassis, a true Trieste-born with Greek Orthodox rootswho with his partner Eugenia Fenzi manages one of the most elegant literary cafes in Italy: theAntico Caffè San Marco. From 1914 to today there are no artists and intellectuals who have entered this triumph of Liberty, with ceilings covered with bronze coffee leaves, large brass chandeliers and tables in red Verona marble. Very popular at aperitif and dinner time, today its side is occupied by a small library of rare texts, a passion of Alexandros who is also an editor. “Cafes like this were born in the 1700s especially for women, who didn’t like going to taverns to drink wine with drunks” says Eugenia. «In the cafes, women found a place for discussion and study. Even today, in the afternoon, our tables are occupied by girls who study ».
The cafes where novels are born
The Caffè degli Specchi, in Piazza Unità d’Italia.
Among the most famous historical places there are also the Caffè degli Specchi in Piazza Unità d’Italia – rectangle of majestic palaces with a bright side open to the sea – and the sumptuous Tommaseo coffee, facing the sea. Designed in 1824, the Tommaseo belonged to Carolina Bonaparte, was the seat of meetings of patriots of the Risorgimento, hosted the two friends Italo Svevo and James Joyce, and preserves a Habsburg atmosphere in the refined furnishings. “See that little table on the corner?” There Claudio Magris wrote one of his most awarded books, Danube“ notes the manager of the café, Jelena Lekic, a Serb by origin and Trieste by adoption.
Treasure hunt in the library
The Umberto Saba Antiques Bookshop.
Cosmopolitans and polyglots, the people of Trieste are traditionally strong readers and today they can count on 132 libraries and 18 bookstores. One of these belonged to Umberto Saba. The author of the Songbooks (1921), in bronze, is stopped in via Dante in the act of going to his bookshop around the corner, in Via San Nicolò 30. Today the Umberto Saba Antiques Bookshop it is managed by Mario Cerne, the elderly son of Saba’s employee-partner. Don’t think about a normal shop: it is a cavern of wonders with very high walls and canyons of books stacked by the hundreds without any criteria or order. By searching patiently, everyone can find “his” jewel, perhaps forgotten there for 50 or 100 years.
Svevo and Joyce in Trieste, two friends at the museum
The statue of James Joyce, who lived in Trieste where he wrote the first three chapters of Ulysses. (Shutterstock)
Another historical place of the city culture is Piazza Hortis, where the Attilio Hortis Civic Library, frequented by Italo Svevo. It is no coincidence that the statue of the author de Zeno’s conscience (1923) is located here, in front of the garden leading to the library. “In this building by the end of 2022 the LETS – Museum of Trieste literary city will be built, which will absorb the museums dedicated to Svevo and Joyce and will dedicate galleries to other authors linked to Trieste»Explains Riccardo Cepach, who will be the curator of the new museum. «In the meantime we are organizing the celebrating the centenary of theUlysses (1922) by Joyce. The highlight will be in the Bloomsday which is celebrated in the world on June 16, that only day in which the plot of Ulysses takes place. Joyce chose him because that was the day she met her love for her, Nora. In Trieste on June 16 there will be the complete staging of the novel, from 8 in the morning to 2 in the morning, respecting the times of the actions as they are told in the book: a theatrical, musical and literary journey spread through the city»Concludes Cepach (info: museojoycetrieste.it ).
Joyce’s daughter’s secret
«Among the many events for Joyce I would like to point out the release of a different book. It concerns the almost unknown but fascinating figure of her daughter Lucia, Lucia Joyce’s secret by Luigi Guarnieri (The Ship of Theseus). Finally we are talking about this extraordinary Trieste “says Laura Terdossi, owner of the Ubik Bookshop in the Galleria del Tergesteo, a few steps from the statue of Gabriele D’Annunzio. «Lucia was born in Trieste in 1907 and discovers a passion for dance. She is as beautiful as a girl from the 2000s, she goes to Paris and dazzles her with her skills and her alien charm. She will fall in love with Samuel Beckett, then she will get lost in her madness, she will be treated by Carl Gustav Jung, but she will spend most of her life in a sanatorium “he concludes Laura Terdossi. Who is known in the city for the “Reading on the phone” initiative for people who lived in solitude during the first lockdown of 2020. The New York Times also spoke about her idea and the President Sergio Mattarella awarded her an honor. In Trieste, culture can become solidarity.
Where the wind of restlessness blows
Sunset from the Molo Audace, near Piazza Unità d’Italia.
James Joyce found little sympathy instead, arriving here with his partner Nora Barnacle, prompted by a job offer from the Berlitz School. Already on the first day he had two surprises: the work at Berlitz was not there, and he got involved in a brawl of drunken English sailors and ended up in jail until the evening. Nora waited for him in the garden in front of the station reading a book. This was the Italian debut of Joyce, “a frequenter of places of public insecurity” (his words). The statue of him – hat on twenty-three, bow tie and hands in his pockets – is on the Ponte Rosso of the Grand Canal, in the heart of the Borgo Teresiano, so called because it is part of the elegant urban restructuring of Trieste carried out by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. In the 11 years they spent in Trieste, the couple changed eight residences, for various reasons: once because the landlady discovered that she was pregnant but they were not married; other times it was because James “forgot” to pay the rent. But he never forgot to go and hear La Boheme by Puccini at the Verdi Theater, because the bohème was very close to the lifestyle of the restless Irishman. A genius of the twentieth century theater also speaks of existential restlessness: Giorgio Strehler from Trieste. There is a Strehler collection in the Carl Schmidl Theater Museum in Trieste. Let’s leave the word to the director: “Perhaps this is a destiny for us from Trieste, to be restless, never calm, always unsatisfied. And then thank you also for this restlessness of yours that makes you so alive and makes us so alive. Thank you, my Trieste ».
Where to sleep in Trieste
A corner of the Caffè Tommaseo, the oldest in Trieste.
Victoria Literary Hotel
Tastefully renovated, it is in an early 1900s house where Joyce lived from 1910 to 1912. Rooms with private library or small apartments, for living as a local. Double from 110 €. hotelvictoriatrieste.com
The Modernist Hotel
Design hotel, furnished with care. Double from 150 €. themodernisthotel.it
Continental Hotel
In the pedestrian center, 4 stars with the charm of over a century of history. Double from 90 €. continentalhotel.com
Where to eat
Hostaria Malcanton
A cheerful environment with modern touches. Trieste seafood cuisine: mullet “in savor”, spaghetti “in busara” with prawns and marinated salmon. hostariamalcanton.it
Pier The Roof
The position at the end of the Venice pier that juts out into the gulf is priceless. Excellent carpaccio, tartare and fish soups. Do not miss the aperitif on the terrace at sunset. pierts.it
Antico Caffè San Marco
A meeting place for writers and students, in the wonder of Art Nouveau decorations. Unmissable at aperitif time, it has also become a restaurant with a cuisine of local products from the sea to the Karst. caffesanmarco.com
What to buy
Pastry shop The Favor
Via Trenta Ottobre 3. Historic pastry shop from the early nineteenth century where putize are bought, the linzer and the presnitz, the dried fruit cake baked in the oven wood. A true jewel in style.
iO Donna © REPRODUCTION RESERVED