by InTrieste
Bibliophiles visiting Trieste this June will be treated to more than just literary celebrations. In a fitting complement to the city’s annual Bloomsday festivities, Biblioteca Civica Hortis is hosting a special four-day book market from Friday, June 13, through Monday, June 16, inviting locals and tourists alike to browse and buy from a treasure trove of secondhand books.
The sale, which takes place on the ground floor of Palazzo Biserini—the library’s historic headquarters and home to Trieste’s Literary Museum—as well as at the Bloomsday Info Point in nearby Piazza Hortis 4, is part of a broader effort to reorganize and restore the institution’s spaces. Thousands of books, most of them duplicates or long-unread volumes unearthed from the library’s storage, will be made available at symbolic prices, many for just one euro.
The event coincides with Bloomsday Trieste, the city’s homage to James Joyce, who spent formative years writing in Trieste and is honored annually with readings, performances, and exhibitions inspired by his masterwork Ulysses. With foot traffic swelling in the area during the mid-June festival, the library hopes the Book Market will serve both a practical and poetic purpose: lightening the shelves ahead of a major renovation, while giving neglected volumes a second life in the hands of new readers.
“This is about more than just making space,” said one library staff member. “It’s about sharing the legacy of literature, inviting people to rediscover not just books, but the library itself.”
Offerings will include fiction, local history, and general non-fiction, alongside discounted publications produced by the library and Trieste’s literary museums. Hours for the market are as follows: Friday, June 13, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, June 14, and Sunday, June 15, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Monday, June 16, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Far from a simple clearance sale, the Book Market underscores Trieste’s vibrant literary spirit and reinforces the role of Biblioteca Civica Hortis as a cultural anchor—offering not only books, but connection, discovery, and a tangible link to the city’s rich intellectual heritage.
