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A long and narrow strip of land between
Slovenia and the sea, projecting
eastwards to Istria, the province of Trieste
holds the curious record of being the
smallest in Italy. It is divided into six
municipalities, north-to-south:
Duino-Aurisina, Sgonico,
Monrupino, San Dorligo
della Valle and
Muggia. Trieste,
the regional capital city, is
isolated in the middle, facing
the sea. An important
crossroads for international
communications, both by
land and sea, the province
now opens to the economic
development and integration
with the Eastern European
countries. Trieste also boasts a
prestigious University, the Centre
for Theoretical Physics of Miramare
(founded in 1964 with the purpose of scientific
production, it is especially focused on developing
countries and Central and Eastern European countries),
the International School for Superior Advanced Studies,
the United World College located at Duino, the
Astronomic Observatory of the National Institute for
Astrophysics, the International Institute for
Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics, the CNR
Institute of Marine Sciences, and the Marine Biology
Laboratory. Most renown is the Area Science Park, the
Italian multi-sector scientific park at Padriciano that
hosts about forty centres and research and service
companies among which the International Centre for
Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, as well as the
Synchrotron Light Laboratory, where the Elettra
Light Machine has been built.
The Trieste inland tableau
offers visitors the
picturesque karstic landscape
with its rock vegetation,
cultivated fields and caves. The
towns still preserve the traditional
architecture with historical
churches and castles, while the
surrounding mountain landscapes
treasure the memories of the war
and the rocky cliffs dropping
sheer to the sea hide
charming inlets from the
mouth of River Timavo
to the Muggia gorge.
The whole Trieste
area is rich in fossils (of
dinosaurs as well) and archaeological findings: caves
that were inhabited from the Palaeolithic to the Roman
Age, ruins of Roman cities, villas, rural houses,
quarries, and an aqueduct, and Early Christian and
Medieval churches, castles and fortifications.
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