THE CULTURE

The culture of Trieste is very varied and for this reason visiting this city always means discovering something new. The numerous Italian and foreign writers and composers who have found the right inspiration in Trieste to compose some of their best works, are the testimony of what this city can offer both from a landscape and a human point of view.

Umberto Saba tells Trieste in this way:

I traversed the entire town.
Then I climbed a steep slope,
crowded at first, deserted further up,
closed by a low wall:
a nook where I sit
alone; and it seems to me that where it ends 
the town ends too.
 
Trieste has a surly
grace. If one likes it,
it is like a rascal, harsh and voracious,                                               
with blue eyes and hands too big
to offer a flower;
like a love
with jealousy.
Up from this slope every church, any street
I discover, whether it takes to the huddled beach,
or to the hill where, onto the rocky
top, a house, the last one, clings.
All around
circles all things
a strange air, a tormented air,
the native air.

My town that is in every of its part alive,
has a nook made just for me and my life,
pensive and reserved.

Through his poems Saba tells about his city, Trieste, from many points of view and manages to grasp many aspects. This poem reflects the dual nature of the city: young, fresh and full of life but also lonely and grumpy.

Saba was not the only author to find a source of inspiration in Trieste, Italo Svevo and James Joyce are just some of the best known authors who have written about Trieste in their compositions.

Trieste is also the result of an intense historical past and a cultural liveliness that we can find in its museums and theaters. The Revoltella museum in particular houses a significant art collection while at the Sartorio you can admire original works by Tiepolo.

One of the reasons to visit Trieste is therefore certainly to retrace the steps of these authors, visit the countless museums or the famous Teatro Verdi and Teatro Rossetti.