Friday 22nd September 2023 – Camping Mare Pineta, Sistiana, Italy

 

The forecast was very bad today – light rain followed by much heavier rain and thunderstorms. However, there was blue sky and white clouds when we left the campsite to catch the bus into Trieste.
WE intended to go to the tourist information to get the audio tour of Trieste (free with the FVG card) but decided to admire a little more of the architecture before climbing the hill to the castle and the J.J. Winckelmann Antiquities Museum.
The first stop was the post office – the most ornate one that I have ever seen. It was built by the Habsburgs who were the inventors of the modern postal system. Then on to San Spiridon, the Serbian Orthodox church with its impressive paintings, mosaics and iconostasis. We wanted to visit the Greek Orthodox church, San Nicolo dei Greci, but refurbishment work meant that it was closed to visitors.
Up the hill then to the museum. The J.J. Winckelmann Antiquities Museum actually consists of two parts – a lapidarium (collection of archaeological stone artefacts) and a formal museum. We walked down through the lapidarium and were very impressed but when we got to the museum, we were blown away. The Bradt guidebook suggested that the museum was dusty and poorly organised. Either the authors saw it on a bad day or it has been drastically improved since. Yes, the display cabinets are old fashioned but the finds are extremely good. Winckelmann died in 1768 and was a collector of antiquities but, unlike most collectors of that period, he was fastidious in his recording of the items in the collection. He loved ancient art and collected the most exquisite items. I have never seen so many entirely intact items of Roman glass, Greek, Roman and Etruscan painted vases mostly from Italy but there was a whole room devoted to Cyprian pottery. In addition there were objects from pre-history and Egypt. One of the most impressive exhibits was the Trieste Rhyton – a silver drinking cup in the form of a fawn, which demonstrates beautiful workmanship. I spoke to one of the curators of the museum and told him how much we had enjoyed our visit. The museum is free to visit and he suggested that this was one reason that the museum did not receive the credit that it deserved. I must highly recommend the museum – if you are visiting Trieste, don’t miss it.
In the gardens of the museum were a number of tents set up by a Roman re-enactment group that were there for the weekend. Unfortunately, the event was really happening on the Saturday and Sunday and we were going to be moving on in the morning. We were told about a pizzeria, the Donna Amalia, just a couple of minutes from the museum and we had the best and cheapest pizzas that we have had in Italy for many a year.
Walking back through the museum grounds we headed to the castle with our FVG cards at the ready as they entitled us to free entry. When we got there, we were told that entry was free to everyone. I asked why it was free, expecting to be told that it was some special day – heritage open days or an anniversary perhaps. It turned out that they had an I.T. problem in reception and couldn’t issue tickets! The castle itself is interesting and provides excellent 360° views over Trieste, the sea and into Slovenia.

Photos: Some of the collection of Greek and Etruscan vases; 5^th to 3^rd century BC pottery from Southern Italy; The silver rhyton; The huge pizzas; View over Trieste and its port from the castle.