Discovering Trieste’s Colorful Cottages of San Giacomo Neighborhood

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by Alessandra Ressa

Between via della Concordia and via dell’Industria, in the heart of busy, multi-ethnic, proletarian San Giacomo, there is a whole block of colorful, tiny houses, intimately leaning onto one another, that appears to have stopped in time. This charming tiny neighborhood, surrounded by tall public housing buildings, has managed to survive nearly unspoiled for almost two hundred years.

In this residential area, there are 90 two-story houses lining narrow lanes, each with its own distinctive color, each with its tiny garden. The lanes have retained their original sandstone blocks, which once were common all over the city. Via Antenorei and via Papiriano carve the block into four sections, with a lovely central little square and a stone fountain, where unfortunately today unruly cars and motorbikes park undisturbed.

This is one of the very few surviving historic housing areas for laborers in Trieste. Built around 1850, this picturesque neighborhood climbing the hill of San Giacomo was erected by Trieste’s public housing company to accommodate shipyard workers employed just a few hundred meters away at the bottom of the hill, in the then flourishing Port of Trieste. According to Trieste historians, the bigger houses at the top of the block with a partial view of the Gulf were probably meant for managers and supervisors, and designed by famous local architect Giovanni Berlam.

The lower lines of smaller houses were designed by another prestigious name in Trieste’s architectural circle of the time, Giovanni Righetti.

Halfway through this miniature neighborhood stands the only tall building in the block, the pink, elegant municipal nursery school Rena Nuova, built in 1873 to celebrate the marriage of Archduchess Giselle, daughter of the Emperor of Austro-Hungary, with Prince Leopold of Bavaria. The nursery school has been recently renovated and it’s quite a sight with its hanging gardens standing tall among the tiny pastel tinted houses.

While the rest of the neighborhood developed vertically in what appears at times to be a chaotic conglomerate of cement in every possible architectural style, this charming block has miraculously managed to survive. As appetizing as the area must have been to building contractors, no scraper has yet dared demolish any of the little houses. With time, the owners added their own personal touches. Art Noveau gates and doorways can be spotted here and there, as well as original late 1800s decorations. 1960s and 1970s contaminations are quite common, and some recent renovations add to the multifaceted atmosphere.

One last reason this secret corner of Trieste is so unique is the care given by residents to their tiny gardens, where, in spring, a wide variety of fragrant blooms, including wisteria, jasmine, passionflower and honeysuckle, can be enjoyed.