Hotel de la Ville is located on Riva III Novembre (then Riva Carciotti), overlooking the sea between Palazzo Carciotti and the Greek Orthodox Church, on the site where the ancient Rossetti Chapel stood. Born as Hotel Metternich, now Fincantieri’s home, was for years the most important hotel in the city of Trieste and in 1848 during a few clashes a group of rebels destroyed the sign holding Metternich a symbol of the Empire, on that occasion opted for the change of name in Hotel de la Ville.

1905 Hotel de la Ville.

Designed in the first half of the nineteenth century by Giovanni Degasperi and built in 1839, period in which the city was experiencing a period of great economic expansion; industries, trade and investment developed, markets started to expand, port expanded, people’s traffic expanded more and hence build hotels.

The hotel was inaugurated on June 1, 1841 and in its history hosted important figures such as Giuseppe Verdi who wrote here the symphony of Stiffelio, King Bruno of Greece, Gabriele D’Annunzio, Adalbert Stifter and Ricciotti Garibaldi as well as counters, ambassadors and artists.

The hotel was equipped with public baths, fresh water, the Grande Restaurant on the terrace overlooking the sea and the Café Divan, opened in 1839. The building was repeatedly renovated and retained two primates, in 1884 the first lift of the city and in 1910 was equipped with central heating, the first hotel of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In 1911 the hotel was purchased by the Austrian Navigation Union and remained operational until 1975; later it was restored to commercial use, becoming the headquarters of Fincantieri S.p.A.

The façade was subdivided by the architect into five parts by Corinthian capitals; the bottom is characterized by arc openings while the top is made up of four windows orders.

The decorative relief rounds represent the different parts of the world and are the work of Pietro Zandomeneghi, rectangles sculpted with bas-relief but were commissioned by Baron Revoltella (owner of the hotel for six years) to Giuseppe Moscotto and Giovanni Depaul around 1860 to symbolize the Honor, Industry, Navigation, Reflection, Religion, Constancy, Charity and Trade.

The ground floor features a lined cladding with four architectural holes and a central entrance door with bezel, embellished in relief, alongside two small window holes.

In 1913, on the occasion of the centenary of Giuseppe Verdi’s birth, a plaque was placed on the façade in memory of the first absolute of the Stiffelio symphony, written at the Hotel de la Ville in 1850.

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