Trieste Cathedral (), dedicated to Saint Justus, is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

, in northeastern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is the seat of the Bishop of Trieste. In 1899,

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

granted it the status of a basilica minor.

History

The first religious edifice on the site was built in the 6th century on a 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 An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

with the symbols of the

Capitoline Triad The Capitoline Triad was a group of three deities who were worshipped in ancient Roman religion in an elaborate temple on Rome's Capitoline Hill (Latin ''Capitolium''). It comprised Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. The triad held a central place in th ...

(

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

, Juno and

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

) had been discovered inside it. In the main hall, the original remains of part of the

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

floor is integrated into the present-day floor, which contains markings of the outer walls of the early

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

building. Soon after it was opened for worship, the church was destroyed in the Lombard invasion. Between the 9th and 11th centuries, two

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

s 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 The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

of either basilica and the construction of a simple asymmetrical façade, dominated by a delicately worked Gothic

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

, as ornate as the new

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

, using the Romanesque debris stones found on the site and

frieze In classical architecture, the frieze is the wide central section of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic order, Ionic or Corinthian order, Corinthian orders, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Patera (architecture), Paterae are also ...

s of arms.

Carlist mausoleum

The Chapel of Saint Charles Borromeo serves as the burial chapel for the family of the

Carlist Carlism (; ; ; ) is a Traditionalism (Spain), Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty, one descended from Infante Carlos María Isidro of Spain, Don Carlos, ...

claimants to the throne of

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

.Jaime Del Burgo, ''Carlos VII y su tiempo: Leyenda y realidad'' (Pamplona: Gobierno de Navarra, 1984), 101. It contains the tombs of: * Infante Carlos, Count of Molina (Carlos V) * Infanta Maria Francisca of Portugal, first wife of the Count of Molina * Teresa, Princess of Beira, second wife of the Count of Molina * Infante Carlos, Count of Montemolin (Carlos VI) * Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, wife of the Count of Montemolin * Juan, Count of Montizón (Juan III) * Infante Fernando of Spain, brother of the Count of Montemolin and the Count of Montizón * Carlos, Duke of Madrid (Carlos VII) * Archduke Franz Josef of Austria, Prince of Tuscany

Works of art

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 Veneto, officially the Region of Veneto, is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the Northeast Italy, north-east of the country. It is the fourth most populous region in Italy, with a population of 4,851,851 as of 2025. Venice is t ...

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 A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

, complete a fine

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

churchyard In Christian countries, a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church (building), church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster S ...

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

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. 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.

References

{{Authority control 11th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy

Cathedrals in Friuli-Venezia Giulia Churches in the province of Trieste

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Minor basilicas in Friuli-Venezia Giulia Tourist attractions in Trieste