Trieste is not one of the big tourist draws of Italy. Its climate is known for being a bit rainy, a bit gray. It's not home to famous art museums. James Joyce lived here, sure - but it's not the home to famous art collections or museums. In fact, it's character is not entirely Italian. Trieste, the capital of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giuilia, has a population of about 200,000.
Trieste is a small and old city, representing the oldest part of the Hapsburg Monarchy. Trieste was judged the fourth most important city to the monarchy, after Vienna, Budapest, and Prague, it was the
The city became Italian following World War I. The Italian Army occupied the city after the Austro-Hungarian troops were ordered to lay down their arms, a day before the Armistice came into effect. This let the Italians take possession of the territory before the war was officially ended. You know what they say about possession being nine-tenths of the law. The 1920 Treaty of Rapallo officially annexed the city to the Kingdom of Italy.
The city retains a distinctly foreign feel. Today we strolled by a sign outside the local public broadcasting office. The name of the office was written in three languages: Italian, Slovene, and Triestine.
Triestine is a distinct local dialect of the city, linguistically related to Venetian but influenced by Friulian. OK, what's Friulian? Friulian is a Romance language that belongs to the Rhaeto-Romance family. It's not Italian - but most of the 500,000 speakers of Friulian also speak Italian. The language is sometimes called Eastern Ladin, because it shares many roots as Ladin. (Yes, that's Ladin, not Latin.)
Anyway, the dialect is quite distinct from standard Italian, as can be seen from examining some of common words. The Italian word for "fork," for example, is "forchetta." In Triestine, it's "piròn." The Italian word for "sausage" is "salsiccia," but in Triestine it's "lugàniga." In Italian, the word for "chair" is "sedia," in the Triestine dialect it's "carèga."
OK, enough with the linguistic and history lesson.
We're having a great time here. Today we toured the Castle of San Giusto, a huge fort that was built on top of a series of other castles. The structure's defenses were started by Frederick III back in the 1470s and then augmented by other rulers. It became a Hapsburg fort.
Now, no soldiers tromp in the courtyard, but it holds a marvelous collection of armaments and provides a great view of the city.
Trieste is a small and old city, representing the oldest part of the Hapsburg Monarchy. Trieste was judged the fourth most important city to the monarchy, after Vienna, Budapest, and Prague, it was the
The city became Italian following World War I. The Italian Army occupied the city after the Austro-Hungarian troops were ordered to lay down their arms, a day before the Armistice came into effect. This let the Italians take possession of the territory before the war was officially ended. You know what they say about possession being nine-tenths of the law. The 1920 Treaty of Rapallo officially annexed the city to the Kingdom of Italy.
The city retains a distinctly foreign feel. Today we strolled by a sign outside the local public broadcasting office. The name of the office was written in three languages: Italian, Slovene, and Triestine.
Triestine is a distinct local dialect of the city, linguistically related to Venetian but influenced by Friulian. OK, what's Friulian? Friulian is a Romance language that belongs to the Rhaeto-Romance family. It's not Italian - but most of the 500,000 speakers of Friulian also speak Italian. The language is sometimes called Eastern Ladin, because it shares many roots as Ladin. (Yes, that's Ladin, not Latin.)
Anyway, the dialect is quite distinct from standard Italian, as can be seen from examining some of common words. The Italian word for "fork," for example, is "forchetta." In Triestine, it's "piròn." The Italian word for "sausage" is "salsiccia," but in Triestine it's "lugàniga." In Italian, the word for "chair" is "sedia," in the Triestine dialect it's "carèga."
OK, enough with the linguistic and history lesson.
We're having a great time here. Today we toured the Castle of San Giusto, a huge fort that was built on top of a series of other castles. The structure's defenses were started by Frederick III back in the 1470s and then augmented by other rulers. It became a Hapsburg fort.
Now, no soldiers tromp in the courtyard, but it holds a marvelous collection of armaments and provides a great view of the city.
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