| Cathedral of San Giusto
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Related links:
Trieste
- Il Borgo Teresiano
- Miramare Castle
- La cittą Vecchia
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The cathedral
is a casket
of historical,
archaeological and
artistic treasures. It
has elements of the
Roman period,
when in the place
of the church there
was a pagan building of
which the columns and base
of the left side of a
propylaeum, or monumental
entrance, are incorporated in
the bell tower, as well as the
colonnade of the portico
with central flight of steps
which lead to a probably
sacred area, and the
capitoline temple. Traces of
the bas-reliefs decorating the
propylaeum are still visible,
probably dating back to the
mid-1st century AD. A
primitive Christian basilica
was erected in the 5th
century, fragments of whose
mosaic floor are incorporated
in the present cathedral floor.
This building, enlarged and
enriched in the 6th century,
was replaced in the mid-11th
century by a church
dedicated to Sta. Maria. In
the same period, to the south,
a sacellum, a small square
building with dome destined
to the cult of martyrs and in
particular to the relics of
Trieste martyr S. Giusto,
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was
built. In the 14th century,
probably on Lombard
Bishop Rodolfo Pedrazzani's
initiative, the two churches
were joined to form a single
cathedral with five naves: the
two adjacent naves were
demolished (namely the right
one in the church of Sta.
Maria and the left one in that
of S. Giusto) and in their
stand the large central nave
resulted. A new, simple
sandstone front
was then
added, whose only ornament
is the elegant white-stone
Gothic rose window. The
doorposts were made from a
Roman tombstone with the
portraits of six
representatives of the Barbi
family, which was cut in half
then assembled in inverted
order.
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On the left stands the
14th-century mighty bell
tower decorated with Roman
reliefs and the statue of
S. Giusto carrying a model
of the city and the palm of
martyrdom (14th century).
Inside, the apse mosaics are
among the treasures of the
cathedral, one portraying the
-Enthroned Virgin among
Archangels- above the
-Twelve Apostles-, the other
portraying -Christ between
S. Giusto and S. Servolo-
on a gold background, both
the works of Byzantine
workers in the early 13th
century. In the lower strip,
under the mosaic of Christ,
some 13th-century frescoes
illustrate the martyrdom of
S. Giusto:
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these had been
covered, in the following
century by new frescoes
representing the same scene
which can now be seen in
the Chapel of St. John or
old Baptistery.
The mosaic of the nave was
executed in 1933 by
G. Cadorin.
The Treasure of the
Cathedral, kept behind an
18th-century wrought iron
gate, includes relics, ancient
goblets and shrines, a silk
veil with S. Giusto
(Constantinople art, mid-
14th century), two Crosses
in embossed silver (of the
Battuti, 13th century, and of
the Giuliani, 1383), and the
original halberd of
S. Sergio. To the left of the
bell tower, the Chapel of
St. John the Baptist, the
old baptistery with the small
porch, still shows the 9thcentury
hexagonal
baptismal font. To the right
of the cathedral, the
medieval atmosphere is
complemented with the
small Church of
S. Michele, dating back to
the 13th century, though not
in use now.
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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 ...go
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