Roman Ruins
Roman Theatre
Trieste · Friuli-Venezia Giulia
QUICK INFORMATION
- CATEGORY
- Roman Ruins
- COUNTRY
- Italy
- REGION
- Trieste · Friuli-Venezia Giulia
- DURATION
- 2 days
ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION
The Roman theatre of Trieste sits where the city has always sat — at the foot of the San Giusto hill, on what was the shoreline when Tergeste was founded. Built in the 1st century AD and expanded in the 2nd, it held several thousand spectators, was buried under medieval and modern construction for centuries, and was uncovered in the 1930s when the surrounding houses were cleared. It is free to walk into, and in summer it comes back to life as an open-air stage.
HISTORY & BACKGROUND
The story behind it
The theatre was built under the emperor Claudius or Nero and enlarged under Trajan, when Tergeste was a flourishing Roman colony on the road to Aquileia. As the empire declined the theatre was buried, and houses and a church were built over it; it survived in memory as the “palazzo of Theodoric” until excavations in 1938 revealed the semicircle of seats, the stage wall and the statues of the imperial family that are now in the city museum.
WHAT TO SEE
What to see here
The semicircle of stone seats and the stage wall (scaenae frons) foundations.
The view of the theatre from the street above, best in the late afternoon light.
The combination with the San Giusto climb starting directly behind it.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
It is the most tangible piece of Roman Trieste — a real 1st-century monument in the middle of the living city, free to enter, and the natural starting point of the San Giusto walk.
PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Before you go
MAP & LOCATION
Roman Theatre
Roman Theatre, Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy
45.6475, 13.7703
MORE ATTRACTIONS
More to see in Trieste
FOOD & DRINK
Where to eat nearby
Buffet da Pepi — the sauerkraut-and-pork institution since 1897
Osteria da Marino — old-town Triestine home cooking
Antica Trattoria da Gino — fish, near the canal, since 1914
HOTELS & STAYS
Where to stay nearby
Grande albergo hotels facing Piazza Unità for the seafront grandeur
Borgo Teresiano boutique rooms near the Grand Canal for the café quarter
Camping: Mare Pineta Baia Sistiana (4-star, sea-view pitches on the bay, direct Rilke trail access), Camping Obelisco (quiet karst plateau site above Opicina, 10 minutes from the centre)
ITINERARIES
Day-by-day routes
NEARBY DESTINATIONS
Continue the journey
PART OF
Keep exploring
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