If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 531

 

 

 

 

Castello di San Giusto, Trieste, Italy

 

This week’s postcard has a photograph of Castello di San Giusto, or Saint Justus Castle in English, located on a hill in Trieste.  Down the center line on the reverse:  Art.004 PI TS, Printed www.tipografia.com. 

 

Originally a fortress built on Capitoline hill on the ruins of a Venetian castle, it was 2 stories with an adjacent square tower.  This was a plain military post and not designed to be an artistic castle but to defend the city.  The high semicircular wall was added in the 16^th century.  There were additional extensions in the 17^th and 18^th centuries.  The foundations of a 4^th bastion of the fortress were found buried beyond the bascilica but it was never completed.  The French bombing of the city 1702 made it clear that a huge fortress on the hill no longer made sense.  Although it was a military fortress it was only used as one twice.  Once in 1813 by the Napoleonic troops who tried for two weeks to resist the siege of the Austrian, English, and Neapolitan fleets, and the second time by the German soldiers who surrendered to the liberation troops in 1945. 

 

The castle was restored in the 2000s and today it houses a civic museum with exhibits that include sculptures, bas reliefs and architecture from Roman times.  There are inscriptions, coats of arms, military banners and plaques on display.  The museum also has a weapons collection and a guardhouse.  Under the castle grounds are tunnels that are not open to the public and are still being explored.  In one of the cellars there is a restaurant.  Parts of the structure and grounds are open to the public where it is possible to enjoy views of the city and the gulf below.  The castle has belonged to the city of Trieste since 1930.  

 

San Giusto or Saint Justus is the Roman Catholic patron saint of Trieste.  He was a citizen of Trieste, known for his works and charity.  Sentenced to death by drowning, he died a martyr in 293 for refusing to sacrifice to Roman gods.  

 

With special thanks to my friend who moved to Trieste recently and sent several cards.

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://it.wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/Castello_di_San_Giusto

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