Trieste: Hundred years of loyal service

摘要

Trieste is an ancient and very important seaport, at the head of the Adriatic, some 115 km east of Venezia (Venice). Its history shows why the city has such a cosmopolitan character. It started as an Illyrian village back in BC days, but in AD9 it became by conquest an important Roman colony (Tergeste). It was later an independent republic for many centuries. In 1382 it came under the Hapsburg monarchy and Austrian rule, which it twice lost and regained, being briefly occupied by Napoleon. Trieste became the only outlet to the Mediterranean of the vast Austro-Hungarian empire, and was declared a free port in 1719. It remained Austrian until 3 November 1918, when it was given, together with its surrounding territory and the Istrian peninsula (stretching for 90 km to the south), to Italy, in the victory settlement after the First World War. The area to the east of Trieste had already passed from Austrian rule to the newly-created Yugoslavia on 8 April 1918.