Trieste

Trieste sits at the head of the Adriatic, between the sea and the steep limestone plateau of the Karst, a small Italian-speaking commune with a hill-top castle and a cathedral on the slope of San Giusto. For centuries it was a rival of Venice for the Adriatic trade, and Venice twice held the town, in 1283–87 and 1368–72. Seeking protection against Venice, the citizens turned to Duke Leopold III of Austria, and at Graz on 30 September 1382 they signed their voluntary submission to the Habsburgs, keeping broad civic autonomy.

Venice kept pressing. In 1463 Pope Pius II, once the town's bishop, saved it from ruin, though Venice limited its lands to a belt of about three miles, and in 1468–69 Emperor Frederick III sacked the city, an event remembered as the Destruction of Trieste. Real growth began in 1719, when Charles VI declared Trieste a free port; under Maria Theresa the new quarter of Borgo Teresiano rose beside the old town, and Greek, Serbian and other merchants arrived.