People enjoying coffee at a famous coffeeshop at the Piazza dell’Unità d’Italia, the main square in Trieste.

© Karl Allen Lugmayer/Shutterstock

Piazza dell'Unità d'Italia

Trieste


This vast public space – Italy's largest sea-facing piazza – is an elegant triumph of Austro-Hungarian town planning and contemporary civil pride. Flanked by the city's grandest palazzi, including Palazzo del Municipio, Trieste's 19th-century city hall, it's a good place for a drink or a chat, or simply for a quiet moment staring out at ships on the horizon.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Trieste attractions

1. Arco di Riccardo

0.18 MILES

The Arco di Riccardo is one of the Roman town gateways, dating from 33 BC, and overlooks a pretty residential square. The gate is named for the English…

2. Roman Theatre

0.18 MILES

Behind Piazza dell’Unità d’Italia rise remains of the Roman theatre, which was built between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. Concerts are held here…

3. Museo Joyce & Svevo

0.23 MILES

James Joyce would enjoy the irony: his museum really belongs to friend and fellow literary great, Italo Svevo, housing a significant collection of the…

4. Civico Museo Teatrale Carlo Schmidl

0.23 MILES

Trieste's long-standing cultural cred is documented at this museum, housed inside the grand Palazzo Gopcevich, with a collection that traces the city's…

5. Statue of Italo Svevo

0.25 MILES

Triestine modernist writer Italo Svevo is celebrated in this touching bronze, a companion piece to his great friend, James Joyce.

6. Statue of James Joyce

0.26 MILES

James Joyce's presence in the city is palpable, but if you're not feeling it, this bronze statue will help. He's often surrounded by Irish visitors and…

7. Chiesa di Santo Spiridione

0.27 MILES

Constructed from pearly white Istrian stone in 1868, the Serbian Orthodox church has a typical Byzantine style, its large central dome flanked by four…

8. Borgo Teresiano

0.29 MILES

Much of the graceful city-centre area north of Corso Italia dates to the 18th-century reign of Empress Maria Theresa, including the photogenic Canal…