“Half of the city was built under Austro-Hungarian dominion, so there is present a very large number of avenues and palaces that resemble Vienna. The most present architecture styles are Neoclassical, Art Nouveau, Eclectic, Liberty and Baroque (with, unfortunately, a smattering of fascist brutalistic buildings from the still-simmering Mussolini era). Imagine what the streets were like in the 19th century, at the height of the city’s prosperity, teeming with Germans, Hungarians, Levantines, Greeks and Turks, all dressed in their very different garments and represented by the plurality of churches and synagogues.”

One of the largest public squares of Europe, and rivaling Piazza San Marco, its nearest neighbor across the water, Piazza Unita, fronted by the Adriatic, boasts structures that suggest the style of wedding cakes.

Church of the Spiridone

12th century mosaics in the Cathedral di San Giusto.

To be continued —