Port of Trieste - History

History

In the period between the beginning of 1700 and 1850, Trieste was mainly an emporium and was given the status of Free Port by Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor in 1719. In 1740, when Empress Maria Theresa of Austria took power, one of the first measures she adopted was to extend the borders of the Free Port area to the periphery of the town, thereby merging the emporium, the port, the new city and the old one.

The Empress decided to extend the exemptions from customs duties to the whole city, which attracted many people from different countries and all walks of life (Italians, Serbians, Slovenians, Croats, Jews and Greeks): for them a law was passed, the "Editto di tolleranza", which provided for the freedom of worship, the possibility to negotiate freely and to own goods. It appeared that it was necessary to enlarge the port infrastructure and the railway network. In 1857 the Südbahn (Southern) Railway line became operational along the northeastern route: Trieste, Postojna, Ljubljana, Graz, Vienna, with further links to Budapest and the Balkans. The railway element was central in the design of the port structures.

In Trieste it was the Lagerhäuser system of Northern European ports that was used as a model. A French engineer, Paul Talbot, signed the project.

1868 marks the beginning of Trieste as a commercial port whose infrastructures were to be developed in four different periods.

To tackle the competition of Northern ports, which had been able to attract trade because of the lack of railway connections with Trieste, and to adjust to the needs of non-European maritime transport, which was to increase after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 - with the consequent shortening of the distance separating Trieste from Bombay by 7,500 miles - in 1868 the construction of the current Porto Vecchio (the Old Port, at the time called Porto Nuovo, the New Port) was started. The Northern part of the port was built between 1868 and 1883 together with the outer breakwater and other sea infrastructures.

On December 22, 1871, the new monthly service linking Trieste with Bombay was established. In 1874 a contract was signed with the Südbahn for the development of the port and in 1879 the Magazzini Generali (the warehouses) were erected. In the same year the Pontebbana railway line was officially opened connecting Trieste, Udine, Pontebba, Villach, Salzburg and Munich.

In 1891 the port became a free port and was separated from the rest of the town by an enclosure. The status of free port, which had been previously extended to the whole city, was now being limited to this area, while the city became physically separated from it. In the period between 1901 and 1914 the works began to enlarge the Rive area (the embankment), to build the Bersaglieri Wharf, the Scalo Legnami (the timber pier) and S. Andrea port (piers V and VI).

The fourth period, between 1924 and 1936, is characterised by the realisation of major public works, which were to complete the sea infrastructures, the port equipment on piers V and VI, the Silo, the Stazione Marittima (the passenger station), and the Idroscalo (the air harbour).

After reconstructing the buildings damaged by the bombings of the Second World War, an innovative port reorganisation was started in line with the needs of the containerisation and the new transport systems.