Cavana

The most authentic old city of Trieste near Piazza Unità d'Italia, in the immediate hinterland of Riva del Mandracchio and below San Giusto Hill, seems to have definitively emerged in recent decades from a long history of decadence, if not neglect. It was a port district with its own energy, but tainted by a vague reputation for petty crime. What has made it an unmissable tourist destination today for anyone visiting Trieste have been the urban redevelopment works and private investment in house-to-house renovation, with the consequent opening of new premises and shops and the availability of rooms for short-term rental.

There are no 'cavane' here – in the sense of the Veneto term, which sounds like 'capanna' [hut] and indicates a shelter for boats – or at least not anymore. Piazza Hortis, which begins, with its trees, at the end of Via di Cavana, still has a pleasant, typical ambience, with a nautical high school, a municipal library with the inevitable statue in honour of Italo Svevo, an ice-cream parlour, a pastry shop and a couple of churches. Moreover, the Diocese of Trieste is located along the final stretch of Via di Cavana, and the entrance to the Museo Revoltella is less than two hundred metres away.