If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 280

Trieste Cathedral, Italy, ca 1898

Postcards are easy to store until you get hundreds of them.   They offer peeks into the past that I find fascinating and they often have photos of beautiful places or significant sites from around the globe that are interesting and different from the everyday experience.  I have been saving and collecting postcards for several years and friends who know this will send me cards they think I might enjoy.  As a result, this New Year begins with a Italian card sent by a friend who currently lives in Italy and has been taking short trips, cycling many new roads, and kind enough to send postcards from along the way.

The card above is from Trieste and has a photograph taken in 1898 of the San Giusto or Saint Justus Cathedral completed in 1320.  A year after this photo was taken Pope Leo XIII granted it the status of basilica minor.  Even though the building shown was not completed until 1320 there was an earlier structure built in the 6th century upon old Roman ruins.  The building floor has incorporated parts of the ancient mosaics that show the markings of the original Christian building.  The postcard photograph is from Fotoceca Civici Musei di Storia ed Arte di Trieste. 

There were two basilicas erected here between the 9th and 11th centuries, one dedicated to Our Lady of Assumption and the other to Saint Justus.  As time progressed the two buildings were joined to form one building in the 14th century.  The reconstruction involved demolishing parts of each and connecting the buildings making a new footprint with the addition of a Gothic rose window and a new bell tower.  The bell tower contains five bells tuned to G major. 

Trivia:  This cathedral also houses the Carlist mausoleum, a burial chamber called the Chapel of Saint Charles Borromeo that has tombs of Carlist family claimants to the throne of Spain.  Artwork found here includes mosaics of Our Lady of Assumption and Saint Justus done in the 12th and 13th centuries are also found here.   There is an altar commemorating members of the 3rd Army who died in World War I.  Archaeological excavations revealed a two floor Roman forum and civic building and two of the columns found have been reconstructed.
  

Thank you to my friend for sharing this interesting photo card.

For more information, see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trieste_Cathedral