The Jerusalem Post - A visit to Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Trieste - The port city of the Hapsburg Empire.

The promenade

The sea promenade in Trieste

The Jews of Trieste formally established their community in 1746, but Jews had already lived in the city for eight centuries.

Historians now dispute the precise timespan of Jewish presence in Trieste, but documents from the 13th century onwards tell an intriguing history culminating in the construction of one the largest synagogues in Europe. This synagogue survived desecration by Nazi and Italian fascists priot to and during World War II.

The Jews of Trieste were largely employed as licensed moneylenders and pawnbrokers, much like many of their bretheren throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. These positions provided them with some level of civil rights, legal recognition, the right of property ownership and citizenship. These professions could not be held by Christian locals because the Biblical prohibition against usury (Deuteronomy 23: 19,20) meant that Christians could not charge interest to fellow Christians. The practice was, however, legitimate for Jewish lenders.

The standard interest rate in those days was 15% made the Jewish community relatively wealthy. Only when community members attempted to expand into professions or trades other than moneylending did the local elite begin to regard the Jews as a threat. In the 1600s, the elite of Trieste filed a complaint against the growing financial influence of the Jews. They also raised questions regarding the Jews' rights to own real estate in the city and even to live on the main streets of the town. The elite wanted to expel the Jews altogether.

Government representative Count Giovanni Filippo di Cobenzi choose a neutral course of action, turning down the elite's demand for complete expulsion. The elite argued that the Jews should be separated from the Christians and forced into a ghetto. In 1695, the Jews packed up their things and move into Trauner, Trieste's first ghetto.

The ghetto was essentiall one narrow, damp tenement building attached to the western part of the city wall. Conditions there were very poor and the 11 families fiercely protested the order to move, in calling the area "the trash dump of the world". A year later another area around the Portizza di Riborgo was instituted as the new ghetto. This time the Jews accepted the order.

Trieste passed from Venitian to Austrian control and became a free port in 1719. The Jewish role in the development of the regional economy was so significant that Empress Maria Theresa gradually eased the harsh laws imposed on them. Her successor, Joseph, abolished the ghettos in 1785. The Jewish community in Trieste flourished once again and its population increased six-fold. In 1912, the community built the temple on Via Donizetti, the third-largest remaining synagogue in Europe after those in Amsterdam and Budapest.

In 1938, Mussolini proposed the "Italian way to racism" while in Trieste. The city at that time had one of the largest Jewish communities in Italy and almost every family had a Jewish relative or friend. Even the mayor, Enrico Paolo Salem, was of Jewish origin. But Mussolini's policy statements proved to be real threats. The Jews lost their civil rights to the discriminatory racial laws and Italy surrendered to Germany in 1943. Nazi forces occupied the area and established there the only concentration camp on Italian soil, the Riseria di San Sabba.

Modern Trieste
Apart from the long and intriguing Jewish history, modern Trieste is an interesting place on it's own. The Generali Insurance corporation (which was partly founded by Jews) and Hausbrandt and the Illy coffee makers are only three of many famous brands originating in the city. One of Italy's largest multi-sector science centers, AREA Science Park, is situated just outside the ctiy.

Trieste is a crossroads between Venice in the south, Ljubliana of Slovenia in the East and Vienna in the north. All have influenced the city's culture and architecture. Trieste is thus the only Italian city that resembles Vienna and Budapest, architecturally and otherwise. It's a city were beer is as common as red wine and pasta is not necessarily a basic part of the diet. Italians here speak not only Italian but also German and sometimes even English.

The promenade

Interior from the Miramare castle

It's a must to visit the Miramare castle a few kilometers outside Trieste. A fantastic "love nest" set up in the late 1850s, Maximillian of Hapsburg stayed resided for a short period with Charlotte of Belgium. The heavy burdens of leadership lead them both to a tragic ending, drawing a veil of romantic melancholy over the castle.

In the evening one can stroll around the old sections of Trieste - former location of the Jewish ghetto - and eat at one of the many cafes and restaurants. A must-try is the classic 1825-era Tommaseo Cafe on Piazzetta Tommaseo.

Apart from castles and culture, it's worthwhile visiting the Grotta Gigante - a cave so large it can envelop St. Peter's Cathedral in only one of its halls.

Click here to return to Friuli Venezia Giulia front page