All Palaces in Trieste

Palazzo Stratti, also known as the Casa Stratti (Stratti House), is a palace in Trieste, located in Piazza Unità d’Italia.   SHORT HISTORY The palace was built in 1839 at the behest of the merchant Nicolò Stratti, who entrusted the project to the architect Antonio Buttazzoni, one of the most appreciated designers in the city at the time. In 1846, due to some economic difficulties, Stratti was forced to sell the building to Assicurazioni Generali, the current owner. In the same period, the historic Caffè degli Specchi was inaugurated on the ground floor of the building. In the following decades, the Neoclassical aspect of the building was modified by the restorations carried out by the architects Andrea Seu, Eugenio Geiringer and Giovanni Righetti. Andrea Seu made changes to the facades, inserting pilasters and giving them a more symmetrical appearance, by raising the side bodies and changing the position of the balconies. In 1872, Geiringer and Righetti made a series of changes to the facade overlooking Piazza Unità d’Italia, which became more important in the context of the urban transformation of the square in the second part of the 19th century.   ART AND ARCHITECTURE The building is characterized by a Read more [...]

Palazzo Genel is an imposing palace in Trieste, located in Piazza del Ponte Rosso, near the Canal Grande.   SHORT HISTORY The palace was built in 1873 by Domenico Monti for Alessandro Genel, a wealthy textile merchant, and his brothers Felice and Agostino. The palace was built on the site of the 18th-century house of Pietro Antonio Rossetti. At the beginning of the 20th century, the palace became the headquarters of the Anglo-Austrian Bank. In 1927, it was completely renovated to house the Italian Commercial Bank, and starting with 1938 it was the headquarters of the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro in Trieste.   ARCHITECTURE The massive structure has a square plan and five floors. The main facade overlooking Piazza del Ponte Rosso is characterised by a monumental central body with six columns in Ionic style, and balconies with stone balustrades. The columns support an architrave with floral decorations, and the facade is crowned by a balustrade with six vases in Neoclassical style. The ground floor has a series of round arches with keystones on top and massive wrought iron railings, while the other floors have 11 rectangular windows enriched by stone frames. Inside, we can find a square courtyard with Read more [...]

Palazzo Gopcevich is a palace in Trieste, located near the harbour, on the bank of the Canal Grande. Since 2006, the palace houses the Civic Theater Museum Carlo Schmidl.   SHORT HISTORY The building was commisioned by a member of a noble Serbian family, Spiridione Gopcevich, and designed by the Triestine architect Giovanni Berlam. The construction of the palace began in 1850. The palace was bought in 1998 by the Municipality of Trieste. The Theater Museum of Trieste was founded in 1924 by the Triestine music publisher and collector Carlo Schmidl, and until 1991 it was hosted in the Municipal Theater Giuseppe Verdi. In 1992, the museum was temporarily moved to Palazzo Morpurgo, and on December 16, 2006, it was opened in Palazzo Gopcevich.   ARCHITECTURE With its double arched windows and the plasterwork inspired by the decoration of Palazzo Vendramin Calergi, in Venice, Palazzo Gopcevich is one the most important examples of Eclecticism in Trieste. The windows on the first floor are decorated by lunettes with marble statues representing the Serbian monarchs. Inside the palace, especially on the first floor, we can find rich ceiling decorations with plaster and tempera and refined wooden floors with mother-of-pearl marquetry.   THE Read more [...]

Palazzo del Lloyd Triestino is a palace in Trieste, located in the beautiful Piazza Unità d’Italia. Formerly the headquarters of the shipping company Lloyd Triestino di Navigazione, the palace now houses the offices of the Presidency and Council of the Autonomous Region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.   SHORT HISTORY Lloyd Triestino shipping company was established in 1833, and had its first headquarters in Piazza Tommaseo, then in Piazza della Borsa. In 1880, a property was purchased in Piazza Unità d’Italia and a competition was held for the design of the new building, in which architects from Vienna and Trieste participated. Seven projects were submitted, but none of them met the needs of the company’s council, so it was decided to entrust the construction to the senior Austrian architect Heinrich von Ferstel. The first stone was laid on December 6, 1880, and the construction was completed in 1883. On May 1st, 1945, during the Second World War, the palace was seriously damaged by the artillery shells fired by the Germans. During the years 1966 and 1967, the building underwent a radical restoration, consolidation and extension, with the internal floor raised towards the courtyard. In 1991, the building became the seat of the Read more [...]

Palazzo del Municipio is a palace located in Piazza Unità d’Italia, which houses the seat of the Municipality of Trieste.   SHORT HISTORY In the second half of the 19th century, the old Palazzo Pubblico or Palazzo del Magistrato was demolished, to make room for a new building dedicated to the municipality. For the new building, was chosen the project of the Trieste architect Giuseppe Bruni, who a few years earlier designed Palazzo Modello, located on the same square. The project was approved on September 17, 1873, and the work began at the end of the same year under the direction of the engineer and architect Eugenio Geiringer. The works ended in 1875. From a stage in front of the palace, Mussolini announced in 1938 the promulgation of racial laws in Italy, while on November 4, 1954, from the central balcony of the building, the president Luigi Einaudi and the mayor of the city, Gianni Bartoli, greeted the crowd gathered in the square during the celebrations for the return of Trieste to Italy.   ARCHITECTURE The facade of the building, which overlooks Piazza Unità d’Italia, is built in an eclectic style, and consists of two lateral bodies of four floors, Read more [...]

Palazzo della Luogotenenza Austriaca (Palace of the Austrian Lieutenancy) or Palazzo della Prefettura (Palace of the Prefecture) is one of the most important palaces in Trieste, located in Piazza Unità d’Italia. Dating back to the Habsburg rule in Trieste, the palace was the seat of the Austrian Lieutenancy, and today houses the Prefecture of Trieste.   SHORT HISTORY The Palace of the Austrian Lieutenancy replaced an old Governmental Palace, built in 1764 by the order of Maria Theresa of Austria, according to the design of the architect Giovanni Fusconi, where the offices of the Imperial Arsenal were located. Demolished in 1899, the old building gave way to the new construction, the last of the monumental buildings in the square, built between 1901 and 1905, after a design by the architect Emil Artmann. After being the residence of the last three Austrian lieutenants, in 1918 the palace became the seat of the military governor of Venezia Giulia, Carlo Petitti di Roreto, and after the establishment of the province of Trieste in 1922, the seat of the prefecture.   ARCHITECTURE The sumptuous facade of the palace has a double loggia located in the center, which functioned as a stage for the governor Read more [...]