di Sergio Mauri

The Prefettura (the Government Palace) was wanted by the austro-hungarians and is, at the same
time, in a neo-Renaissance and neo-Byzantine style. The building is provided with Jugendstil cusps
and hungarian-bohemians little-angels à la Michael Powolny. On its walls a cocktail of images
through middle-ages and Renaissance.
The City Hall building is a classic example of the 19th century full eclecticism. The three architectural
arrays – Doric, Ionic, Corinthian – are mixed with any kind of invention. This building is a merge
between the Marciana Library in Venice, the Heidelberg Castle in Germany and the Louvre Museum
in Paris.
The Palace which hosts the “Café degli Specchi” is an amazing neoclassical structure and is the
“Assicurazioni Generali” (Insurance company) venue. On the palace’s top there’s a frieze that talks of
a town addicted to business, industry and insurance. This town, Trieste, as a meeting point between
ancient and modern. In the sculptures placed on the top of the building we can find the symbolic
representations of painting, sculpture and architecture. Furthermore, you can see the sculpture of the
Athen owl’s wisdom, the roman pillar and the temples and, aside, the traveler’s baggage, the railway
engine, the pincer and the tecnique.