Piazza Unità d’Italia

One of the most iconic and evocative places in Trieste, Piazza Unità d'Italia contains the history and essence of the city in a highly evocative setting. Some of the city's most important institutions are located here and, above all, people from Trieste love to meet here for a coffee at the outdoor tables or for a walk at sunset. Piazza Unità d'Italia is the perfect example of Trieste's relationship with the sea: overlooking the northernmost stretch of the Adriatic Sea, this huge area of over 12,000 square metres seems to embrace its waters with its architectural backdrops, in a constant dialogue made of light and dark, of lights, shadows and colours that change continuously. An ideal point from which to discover the other districts, Piazza Unità d'Italia is the symbol and soul of the Friulian capital.

Piazza Unità d'Italia in history

Located at the foot of the San Giusto hill, between the 19th-century districts of Borgo Giuseppino and Borgo Teresiano, Piazza Unità d'Italia only took on its current appearance in recent times, thanks to a major restoration that took place around the early 2000s. However, its history dates back to the mid-1400s, when it occupied a space about half as large as its current size and took its name from the presence of a small late-medieval chapel dedicated to St. Peter. During the Austrian domination, the space was dedicated to Franz Joseph of Austria: in 1918, following the annexation of the city to Italy, the living room of Trieste was first named after the Unification and then, in 1955, after the Unification of Italy.

Piazza Unità d’Italia what to see today

Piazza Unità d'Italia today is an elegant location overlooking the sea which houses some of the most significant buildings in the city. Among others, the Palace of the Austrian Lieutenancy, today the seat of the Prefecture, the Palazzo del Lloyd Triestino, which houses the headquarters of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region and the Grand Hotel Duchi d'Aosta overlook it. The fulcrum of the ideal perspective backdrop is the stupendous Palazzo del Municipio, built in the second half of the 1800s with an eclectic-style façade and equipped with an elegant portico on the ground floor. The visual effect, of great harmony and charm during the day, becomes magical at night, when the spectacular lighting system comes on, which enhances the facades of the buildings and illuminates part of the pavement in blue, to recall the area of the square in which there was once a small dock that lent shelter to boats.

 

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