Basilica cattedrale di San Giusto Martire, Trieste, Italy

Cattedrale di San Giusto in Trieste. Photo: MatthiasKabel/Wikimedia Commons

Trieste Cathedral (Basilica cattedrale di San Giusto Martire), dedicated to Saint Justus, is a Roman Catholic cathedral and the main church of Trieste, in northern Italy. It is the seat of the Bishop of Trieste.

The first religious edifice on the site was built in the 6th century on some Roman propylaea, using part of the existing structure. Perhaps the entrance to a monument, this was commonly known as the Capitoline Temple, as a pyramidal altar with the symbols of the Capitoline Triad (Jupiter, Juno and Minerva) had been found inside it.

Of the hall there remains part of the mosaic floor, integrated into the present-day floor, which contains markings of the outer walls of the early Christian building. Soon after it was opened for worship, the church was destroyed in the Lombard invasion.

Cattedrale di San Giusto - interior. Photo: Molino8/Wikimedia Commons

Between the 9th and 11th centuries, two basilicas were erected on the ruins of the old church, the first dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption and the second, the cathedral, to Saint Justus (San Giusto).

The original design of the latter building was subsequently lengthened. In the 14th century the two basilicas were joined by means of the demolition of one nave of either basilica and the construction of a simple asymmetrical façade, dominated by a delicately worked Gothic rose window, as ornate as the new bell tower, using the Romanesque debris stones found on the site and friezes of arms.

Among the works of historical interest in the cathedral are the apsidal mosaics depicting Our Lady of the Assumption and Christ between Saints Justus and Servolus, laid by master craftsmen from Veneto in the 12th-13th centuries.

The small 14th-century church of San Giovanni (Saint John), the old baptistry) on the left and San Michele al Carnale on the right, by the entrance to the museum, complete a fine medieval churchyard.

Cattedrale di San Giusto - interior. Photo: Molino8/Wikimedia Commons

In the square in front of the church is an altar commemorating the consecration and laying down of the arms of the 3rd Army, a column with a halberd and a monument to those who died in the First World War.

Archaeological excavations carried out here in the 1930s laid bare the remains of the Roman forum and civic building constructed on two colonnaded floors with two apses. Two lower-floor columns have been reconstructed.

The 5 bells are tuned in scale of G major.

Source

• www.wikipedia.org

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Palazzo Chiericati, Vicenza, Italy

The Palazzo Chiericati is a Renaissance palace in Vicenza (northern Italy), designed by Andrea Palladio.

Scrovegni Chapel (Cappella degli Scrovegni), Padua, Italy

The Scrovegni Chapel (Cappella degli Scrovegni), also known as the Arena Chapel, is a small church, adjacent to the Augustinian monastery, the Monastero degli Eremitani in Padua, region of Veneto, Italy.

Santa Maria della Passione, Milan, Italy

Santa Maria della Passione is a late Renaissance-style church located in Milan, Italy.

Tourist Attractions in Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Santiago de Compostela is the capital city of Galicia, Spain, and one of the most important places in Catholicism because it is reputed to be the place where St. James, one of the twelve Apostles of Christ, is buried. It is the final destination of the Way of St. James, one of the most important Christian pilgrimages.

Tourist Attractions in Bilbao, Spain

Situated on the banks of the Nervión, Bilbao is the largest city in Spain's Basque Country.

St. James' Church (Sint-Jacobskerk), Antwerp, Belgium

St. James' Church (Sint-Jacobskerk) is a former Collegiate church in Antwerp, Belgium. The church is built on the site of a hostel for pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela.