CATTEDRALE DI SAN GIUSTO

Built on the hill of San Giusto, the fourteenth-century cathedral is the result of the union of two previous basilicas whose adjoining walls were knocked down to form the central nave. It also incorporates elements recycled from older monuments. Thus, the uprights of the central portal are decorated with funerary busts from the Roman period. The Romanesque façade is decorated with a beautiful Gothic rose window. Inside, one is surprised by the width of the building with five naves and by the forest of columns. The monument houses the relics of San Giusto, the patron saint of Trieste. The side apses (previously central apses of the two adjoining basilicas) are decorated with splendid mosaics of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries (or even earlier according to some scholars) of the Venetian-Byzantine school: on the left, the Virgin between the archangels Michael and Gabriel; on the right, Christ between San Giusto and San Servolo (another patron saint of Trieste). The mosaic of the central apse, made by Guido Cadorin, is modern (1932). In the nave we can admire the great wrought iron chandelier that was donated in the 19th century by Maximilian I, Emperor of Mexico. The baptistery can be accessed from the left nave: it houses an eleventh-century baptismal font for baptisms by immersion and detached frescoes from the central apse. Next to the cathedral, the campanile incorporates elements of the ancient Roman propylaea. From its top, there is a magnificent view of Trieste.