TRIESTE, a city of Italy and most considerable trading town on the Adri atic; at the head of the Gulf of Trieste, an arm of the Gulf of Venice; 370 miles S. S. W. of Vienna. In 1849 it was con stituted an imperial free city, and at tached and belonging to it is a territory 36 square miles in extent. The city of Trieste, in which the population of the district is almost wholly amassed, con sists of the old town, the new town, or Theresienstadt, and two suburbs, Josef stadt and Franzenstadt. The old town, built on the slope of a steep hill, crowned by a castle (1508-1680), is distinguished by its narrow streets and black walls. It contains the cathedral, a Byzantine edifice built between the 5th and 14th centuries, into the walls of which stones bearing Roman inscriptions and carving have been built, and the tower of which is said to rest on the foundation of a temple of Jupiter. The new town, with broad streets built in regular parallel ograms and handsome houses, occupies the plain that fronts the sea. Between these two divisions runs the Corso, the chief thoroughfare. The Tergesteo (1840), in the new town, is a splendid modern edifice, containing an exchange and reading rooms, and the offices of the Austrian Lloyd's. Trieste, which from
1719 till July 1, 1891, was a free port, has a very fine new harbor (1868-1883). The manufactures are very extensive, in cluding ship-building, rope-making, and the manufacture of soap, rosoglio, white lead, leather, etc. A great agricultural exhibition was held at Trieste in 1882. Pop. (1910) 157,765, nearly all Catholics, and mostly Italian-speaking.
Trieste, the ancient Tergeste or Ter gestum, was of importance under the Romans, and first receives historical mention 51 B. C., when it was overrun and plundered by neighboring tribes. In 1382 it passed finally into the hands of Austria. It owes its prosperity chiefly to the Emperor Charles VI., who con stituted it a free port, and to Maria Theresa. Since 1816 Trieste has borne the title of the "Most Loyal of Towns." Charles Lever and Sir Richard Burton were consuls there. The city suffered heavily in the World War from bombard ment. In 1918 it was united to Italy.