Sweetbriar: April 12, 2008

Since we visited the mountains last week, this week we decided to head for the sea. I looked at the map and Trieste seemed to be a good choice. Trieste is located in that little slice of Italy which curves around the top of the Adriatic Sea and is just a stones through from Slovenia. We stayed on the scenic roads which pretty much hugged the coast and were not disappointed.

Buoys Lined Up Like Little Soldiers

One of the things that stick out to us is how the Italians plant their trees all in a row. You can drive along and see verdant fields of vineyards, rape (yellow like our wild mustard), or fields plowed ready to be sown. You see these tree plantations in cluster patterns like those jumping peg games in restaurants like the Cracker Barrel back in the states.

I spied another sign for a castle, so of course we stopped. Ohhh, what a gem this one was! It’s called Castle Duino and it’s an area rich in history whose recorded background dates to the 1st century BC. Part of this history reminds me of Lochabar back home in that there is an underground river that comes to ground at a series of springs. At one of these springs stood a Roman temple whose ruins were used for the construction of an early Christian basilica in the 5th century. This was destroyed by Hungarian barbarians, and on the remaining foundation a church was built and completed in 1121 and expanded in 1483. From 1642, when the façade and bell tower were completed, to 1917, the church suffered no damage, but during WWI it was flattened by Italian artillery fire and not restored until 1949. And in recent years, in a nearby quarry, the fossil of a Hadrosaur (a duck-billed herbivore dinosaur species) was discovered. This species died out 80 to 90 million years ago.

As for the specific castle history itself, a Roman watchtower was built during the reign of Diocletian (3rd Century) and is now an integral part of the “new” castle’s keep. The first real fortification was built in the 11th century. Its' ownership ebbed and flowed with political alliances and marriages, and male heir succession. Following this timeline you can also observe how wars, fashions and culture that shape history as a whole, also affected the structural and aesthetic features of the castle. From a Roman stronghold, to feudal fortress, to a more elegant Renaissance-style princely residence. This appreciation of art and culture was carried through to modern times. The castle has played host to Franz Liszt (whose piano is here), Johann Strauss, the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, Paul Valery, Victor Hugo and even Mark Twain, among many others. In 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand left Duino for Sarajevo where he was assassinated, prompting the beginning of WWI.

We were not allowed to take pictures inside the castle, so we can only post outside shots, but I think you will find them interesting to say the least.

Just a few comments about the visit, besides the spectacular vistas. On display was the guest book signed by Prince Charles, who penned simply “Charles 1994”. The castle also has a dark side to its’ modern history, as during the German occupation of WW2, the Germans used forced labor to dig a bunker into the cliffs beneath the castle.

We opted not to tour this, first of all it being dark, dank and 100 steps down; and secondly I wanted to remember this beautiful place in the sunshine, with flowers growing out of the rock walls, bird song and the beautiful views out to sea.