Trieste
When Randy was putting together his schedule of meetings, one of the customers he was planning to visit was in Nova Gorica, Slovenia. This was particularly exciting for me because in the early 1900s my great-grandmother and great-grandfather emigrated from what is today Slovenia, not terribly far from what is now Nova Gorica.
However, he and the customer could not get a date set for the meeting before they went on their August holiday. I was disappointed, but Randy, seeing how it could fit in our schedule, said that we could still go to Trieste, Italy, and from there go to Slovenia if it could be arranged. Otherwise, Trieste would be a great place to be anyway. I've always wanted to visit there as my family history also has many tracks through Trieste. My aunt Sue even visited there herself in 1988, meeting many of her mother's first and second cousins that lived on either side of the Italian-Yugoslavia border. Trieste historically had a sizable Slovene minority, and there was much back-and-forth between the village and Trieste.
More after the jump
Part of the delight of being in Trieste, for me, was that we were in Italy! I had never been to Italy. Of course, before this Crazy Adventure, I had never been to most of the places we were, but Italy! Italia. I knew that the expression on my face was like that I see on tourists on every flight I am on landing in Beijing, the one that says, "I can't believe we are really here!"
Since we were able to arrange a side-trip into Slovenia the next day, our sight-seeing time in Trieste was seriously limited to the late afternoon and evening of our arrival. From our hotel we quickly walked to the Castle San Giusto. We remained outside the castle as it was getting late.
We did get to see Roman Ruins again, these of the Roman Forum adjacent to the Castle.
And ruins of a Roman temple in the base of the 14th century bell tower.
Oh, the bell tower, or should I say, campanile .
The Cathedral of San Giusto was built by joining together two smaller existing churches in the 1300s, the Church of the Assumption and the Church of St. Giusto, leaving an interesting, asymmetric church. At the front of the church, the bricked-over entrance to the Church of the Assumption is still visible.
Inside the Cathedral was quiet, and beautiful.
The center aisle and nave, built when the churches were joined.
The mosaics on the older naves that flank the center date from the 12th or 13th century, predating the joined Cathedral.
Maria Assunta
San Giusto
San Giusto's mosaic is brighter because we put €1 in a machine that turned on the lights for a few minutes.
It wasn't just on the ceilings that mosaic were preserved. On the floor were fragments of the mosaic of the earliest known Christian church on this location, one built in the 5th century.
With some pieces hung on the wall.
This Chapel was built in 1339, and dedicated to St. Servolo in 1825. The Crucifix is from the 15th century.
The Apse of St. Apollinaire (see the frescoes) was completed in the 13th century. The marble altar is from the 9th century.
The hexagonal baptismal font is from the 9th century as well. Members of my grandmother's family that remained in Europe, including her cousin Licia, were baptized here. I could get this picture only through locked glass doors.
Of all the churches we had visited in Europe, this was the first one with which I had a real, personal familial connection. It gave me a foretaste of the next day, when we would actually visit the old village in Slovenia.
Just as we were about to leave, I turned around one last time. The setting sun had reached a point that its rays only entered the church through the clear glass of the Gothic Rose window. My hasty pictures don't do it justice. It was luminous.
This mosaic, interestingly enough, was completed as recently at 1932.
Outside the church was this plaque, commemorating Pope John Paul II celebrating Mass there in 1992. It was the first time I had seen one of these.
Had we more time that evening, we would have gone down the hill to the Roman Theater. As it was, it was getting late, and finding dinner was a challenge we didn't imagine. Most restaurants were closed, probably because of the August holiday. We eventually found a Pizzeria that could have been average by local standards but was outstanding by ours. Since we were in Italy, it was the first time the entire trip I didn't feel the least bit guilty about ordering pizza.
However, he and the customer could not get a date set for the meeting before they went on their August holiday. I was disappointed, but Randy, seeing how it could fit in our schedule, said that we could still go to Trieste, Italy, and from there go to Slovenia if it could be arranged. Otherwise, Trieste would be a great place to be anyway. I've always wanted to visit there as my family history also has many tracks through Trieste. My aunt Sue even visited there herself in 1988, meeting many of her mother's first and second cousins that lived on either side of the Italian-Yugoslavia border. Trieste historically had a sizable Slovene minority, and there was much back-and-forth between the village and Trieste.
More after the jump
Part of the delight of being in Trieste, for me, was that we were in Italy! I had never been to Italy. Of course, before this Crazy Adventure, I had never been to most of the places we were, but Italy! Italia. I knew that the expression on my face was like that I see on tourists on every flight I am on landing in Beijing, the one that says, "I can't believe we are really here!"
Since we were able to arrange a side-trip into Slovenia the next day, our sight-seeing time in Trieste was seriously limited to the late afternoon and evening of our arrival. From our hotel we quickly walked to the Castle San Giusto. We remained outside the castle as it was getting late.
We did get to see Roman Ruins again, these of the Roman Forum adjacent to the Castle.
And ruins of a Roman temple in the base of the 14th century bell tower.
Oh, the bell tower, or should I say, campanile .
The Cathedral of San Giusto was built by joining together two smaller existing churches in the 1300s, the Church of the Assumption and the Church of St. Giusto, leaving an interesting, asymmetric church. At the front of the church, the bricked-over entrance to the Church of the Assumption is still visible.
Inside the Cathedral was quiet, and beautiful.
The center aisle and nave, built when the churches were joined.
The mosaics on the older naves that flank the center date from the 12th or 13th century, predating the joined Cathedral.
Maria Assunta
San Giusto
San Giusto's mosaic is brighter because we put €1 in a machine that turned on the lights for a few minutes.
It wasn't just on the ceilings that mosaic were preserved. On the floor were fragments of the mosaic of the earliest known Christian church on this location, one built in the 5th century.
With some pieces hung on the wall.
This Chapel was built in 1339, and dedicated to St. Servolo in 1825. The Crucifix is from the 15th century.
The Apse of St. Apollinaire (see the frescoes) was completed in the 13th century. The marble altar is from the 9th century.
The hexagonal baptismal font is from the 9th century as well. Members of my grandmother's family that remained in Europe, including her cousin Licia, were baptized here. I could get this picture only through locked glass doors.
Of all the churches we had visited in Europe, this was the first one with which I had a real, personal familial connection. It gave me a foretaste of the next day, when we would actually visit the old village in Slovenia.
Just as we were about to leave, I turned around one last time. The setting sun had reached a point that its rays only entered the church through the clear glass of the Gothic Rose window. My hasty pictures don't do it justice. It was luminous.
This mosaic, interestingly enough, was completed as recently at 1932.
Outside the church was this plaque, commemorating Pope John Paul II celebrating Mass there in 1992. It was the first time I had seen one of these.
Had we more time that evening, we would have gone down the hill to the Roman Theater. As it was, it was getting late, and finding dinner was a challenge we didn't imagine. Most restaurants were closed, probably because of the August holiday. We eventually found a Pizzeria that could have been average by local standards but was outstanding by ours. Since we were in Italy, it was the first time the entire trip I didn't feel the least bit guilty about ordering pizza.
Comments