SUBJECTS of INTEREST
BILL EASTER
Trieste
Trieste is an Italian port city tucked away in the top corner of the Adriatic where Slovenia, Italy and Austria meet. So there is a strong history of trade here and a rich mix of cultures, supplemented by the constant ebb and flow of ships docking from all over the world. This is complemented by locally volatile weather patterns that provide a dramatic and unpredictable backdrop to everyday life. The low peak where San Giusto cathedral now stands was the site of early settlements from which the later walled city tumbled down the hillside in medieval times to the sea where the port steadily grew. As trade and wealth increased, salt pans to the north of the town made way for a modern, grid-style extension initiated in 1740 by the Hapsburg empress Maria Teresa and still known as the Borgo Teresiano today. The port developed in parallel and Trieste
flourished. With the completion of the railway line from Vienna in 1857 a further impulse was given, leading to a major extension of the port in 1868-87 and which is now known as the Porto Vecchio (Old Port). The first, elegant warehouses here were built in 1881-84, laid out along three parallel axes, and were some of the first to employ reinforced concrete in their construction. In 1890 a network of pipes was added which supplied hydraulic power to all the port machinery including the many cranes and hoists. Porto Vecchio continued operating into the 1970's or 80's when the switch to container traffic meant it was no longer suitable for modern ships. Although designated a protected site in 2001 the area fell into disuse and was neglected as the new, modern zones of the port - Piers V, VI and VII - were developed to the south of the city.
1 these famous and magificent warehouses in the Porto Vecchio were the last to be added as part of the port extension between 1900-09. Their fate has been uncertain for many years but in the meantime are being used as an ad hoc carpark
2 the galleries are in poor condition, rainwater drips from the overgrown gutters and the derricks waver precariously…
3 rail tracks run between the rows of warehouses for un/loading goods back and forth for shipment
4 meanwhile nature just gets on steadily with her work, quietly reclaiming terrain in the absence of human activity
5 warehouse No 4 (1900-09) is fenced off from the public
6 warehouse No 7 built in a different style dates from 1888-92
7 the piozemetric tower for stabilising water pressure was part of the hydraulic system created for the port in 1890.
Amongst other functions it powered the cranes on the quays
8 what appears to have been an office, perhaps for customs? close to the port entrance
9 the boundary wall and entrance to the port from the city complete with...
10 this modernist lodge for the gatekeeper containing its own little world
11 on the other side of the original harbour the old lighthouse, dating from 1833, peeps out from behind buildings added later
12+13 these sleek warehouses on Pier V were part of a new development on the southern flank of the port that was built between 1901-14
14 the brick-built silo on Pier VI was likely built in 1937
A shot of Trieste probably taken around 1900. At centre the lighthouse on a ‘naked’ arm of the harbour.
The Porto Vecchio warehouse complex sometime in the mid 1960s, replete with railway wagons.
Urban Trieste
1 Trieste is an important port of call for the many vast cruiseships that tour the Mediterranean
2 sometimes it's difficult to see the ships for the quays...
3 the weather can be dramatic and unpredictable, as these tourists are about to find out
4 the Grand Canal, with many fine houses on either side was built in 1756. It is the only one ever built of nineteen that were originally envisioned for Borgo Teresiana
5 the 18th century extension to the city has wide, straight roads in a grid pattern, some now for pedestrians, some for traffic
6 Illy is based in Trieste and coffee is a way of life here
7 a woman with a recent purchase from the local street market waits below the Parish of Santa Maria Maggiore church
8 the market stalls are a joy to behold for those with an eye for display
9 the former gas station designed by Ernesto Rogers in 1953 is now a favourite hang out for the city’s students
10 a rare gathering of no less than four Lancia Fulvia Zagatos at a classic car show outside the Borso
11 a delightful 1956 Lancia Appia making its way home in modern traffic after the show
12 hardy sunbathers wait for the storm to pass on an equally hardy beach near Miremare outside the city
13 this elegant retreat was built at Miremare in 1860 by Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Habsburg for his wife Charlotte