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Trieste, “Towards the peaks: Mountaineering in Trieste” on display at the Castello di San Giusto

The exhibition, inaugurated on December 5, 2024, explores the history of mountaineering in Trieste, from the great protagonists of the 2th century to the conquest of KXNUMX, with a focus on women mountaineers and the link between the city and the mountains.

Trieste, “Towards the peaks: Mountaineering in Trieste” on display at the Castello di San Giusto.

Thursday 5 December in the Flower Bastion of the Castle of San Giusto the press conference for the presentation of the exhibition “Verso le vette. L'alpinismo a Trieste” was held.

Trieste, "Verso le vette: L'alpinismo a Trieste" in mostra al Castello di San Giusto

Speakers included Giorgio Rossi, Councilor for Culture and Tourism Policies; Stefano Bianchi, Head of the Organizational Position for Historical Museums; Piero Mozzi, President of the CAI XXX Ottobre Association; Marinka Pertot, President of the Slovenian Alpine Club – SPDT; Mario Privileggi, Vice President of the Alpine Society of the Julian Alps – CAI Trieste Section; Anna Krekic, Curator of the San Giusto Castle and the Risiera di San Sabba, creator and curator of the exhibition; Flavio Ghio, Mountaineer, Writer and Co-Curator of the Exhibition.

COUNCILLOR GIORGIO ROSSI: “A TRIESTE WE ARE BUILDING A CULTURAL REALITY OFFERING THAT WILL OUTLIVER US”

"I am proud of the fact that the staff of my Department, in concert with the city actors, is building a cultural offer in Trieste that will survive my institutional experience.", he has declared Councillor Giorgio Rossi"This exhibition is part of the rebirth of the Castello di San Giusto, which has been underway since these spaces, previously managed by external entities, were taken over by the staff of my Offices, in whom I have extreme confidence. In Istria my grandparents, fishermen, went to bring fish to the village of Fulvio Tomizza's grandparents. That humble world lived in harmony until it was destroyed by the political tragedies of the 900th century. Born in 1947, I was lucky enough to witness first-hand the reconstruction, including moral, of Italy after the tragedy of the Second World War. I am a proud Triestine by adoption, having fled in exile from Yugoslavia".

Trieste, "Verso le vette: L'alpinismo a Trieste" in mostra al Castello di San Giusto

Has continued Councillor Giorgio Rossi"The post-war period was also the era of great adventures. The oceans were crossed by the largest ocean liners in the world, built in the shipyards of Trieste, Monfalcone and Genoa. The bathyscaphe Trieste descended for the first time into the Mariana Trench, and a mountaineering expedition led by Friuli Venezia Giulia completed the Italian conquest of K2, with the contribution of the extraordinary personalities of Trieste mountaineering. Today, Dr. Stefano Bianchi, Dr. Anna Krekic and the many young municipal employees have the task of building the future of culture in Trieste, returning it to the citizens, and translating all the experiences of our common past into positive elements. An example of this work is this exhibition, which is iconic, I am amazed, I sincerely congratulate you. In Trieste in 2024, the record of 1,5 million tourists was recorded. This growth requires commitment and attention, to offer visitors services and quality instead of mass tourism. To do this you need the right people and I am convinced that those who work for my Department are right. What has been achieved at Bastione Fiorito embodies in this sense my desire as a councilor and that is quality, commitment, collaboration".

THE SPIRIT OF THE EXHIBITION

Edited by Anna Krekic (curator of the Castle of San Giusto and the Risiera di San Sabba) and Flavio Ghio (mountaineer and writer) making use of the collaboration and scientific advice of numerous scholars and experts, the exhibition tells the story of mountaineering in Trieste through its main protagonists, from the end of the nineteenth century to the post-war period and beyond.

Trieste, "Verso le vette: L'alpinismo a Trieste" in mostra al Castello di San Giusto

"This is the third exhibition in this space renovated last year.“, he specified the director of the Historical Museums Stefano Bianchi: "After the one on science fiction with the Cappella Underground and the one on the anniversary of the University of Trieste. It is also the first exhibition in this context completely home-made, with civic and private collections".

Involving several Civic Museums (Oriental Art, Natural History, the Risiera di San Sabba, the Risorgimento and others) the exhibition illustrates the richness of the city's collections and their many possible connections.

"Many private individuals have also made available personal possessions to which they are emotionally attached, such as Mario Mauri's backpack.“, he specified curator Anna Krekic"There are also items from the Marussi collection of the University of Trieste. Numerous bodies, institutions, experts who have offered scientific advice have contributed to the exhibition".

K2 AND TRIESTE

Titled “K2 and Trieste”, the first section of the exhibition is dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Italian conquest of the second highest mountain in the world, which took place on 31 July 1954, the same year as the return of Trieste to Italy, as part of the expedition led by the Friulian Ardito Desio, in which the Trieste scientist Antonio Marussi also participated, a giant of geodesy, founder of the Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics of the University of Trieste and for many years a professor at the University of Trieste.

The historic feat is told with the interdisciplinary approach and with the plurality of languages ​​that distinguish the entire exhibition. The numerous archaeological finds, naturalistic assets, documents, expedition relics, photographs, scientific instruments come from the Historical, Artistic and Scientific Museums of the Municipality of Trieste, from private lenders and from other public institutions, such as the smaTS-Sistema Museale dell'Ateneo di Trieste, the Friulian Museum of Natural History of Udine (Archivio Ardito Desio), the National Mountain Museum “Duca degli Abruzzi” – CAI Turin, as well as from the three mountaineering associations that are partners in the exhibition. Infographics and historical films (Teche Rai and Cineteca di Bologna) enrich the exhibition path.

MOUNTAINEERING IN TRIESTE AND THE WOMEN

The second section of the exhibition, entitled “Mountaineering in Trieste”, takes its cue from the national interest and its local reverberation, and its fascinating and very peculiar history, takes place over almost a century against the backdrop of the complex events of Trieste and the upper Adriatic border. The proposed story is not an anthology but unfolds through some key figures of mountaineers, chosen for their uniqueness, ability to represent an era and above all to impress significant changes in the way of interpreting and experiencing mountaineering.

Trieste, "Verso le vette: L'alpinismo a Trieste" in mostra al Castello di San Giusto

From Julius Kugy and Vladimir Dougan to Napoleone Cozzi, Emilio Comici, Guglielmo Delvecchio, Enzo Cozzolino, Bianca Di Beaco, Tiziana Weiss and many others, the rich exhibition itinerary winds through works of art, images, mountaineering equipment, films, archive documents, relics, naturalistic assets, precisely from the civic collections, from the collections of the three Trieste mountaineering societies collaborating on the exhibition, from various Italian institutions and from numerous private lenders.

A part of the exhibition, as underlined by the curator Anna Krekic, is specifically dedicated to the “women of rock” and that is to the many female climbers who have contributed to writing the history of this discipline.

Multidisciplinary and heterogeneous, the route offers ideas in the most varied fields, from botany to literature and figurative art (among the paintings, works by Ugo Flumiani and Napoleone Cozzi), from climbing techniques to the construction of refuges and the majestic beauty of the mountains, first and foremost the Julian Alps.

THE STORY OF TRIESTE

"The aim of the exhibition is to explore the history not only of Julian mountaineering but also of Trieste from an original and unusual point of view, in line with the scientific programme of the exhibition events at the Bastione Fiorito, which observe the history of our territory from ever-changing lenses”, curator Anna Krekic said: “With their biographies and exploits, their personal visions and ways of interpreting and tackling the wall, the mountaineers described in the exhibition allow us to glimpse the era in which they lived. Their individual stories, outlined against the backdrop of the rock, are capable of reflecting the collective history of Trieste, a city always on the border, which during the twentieth century experienced enormous and often dramatic changes.".

If Julius Kugy represents the Habsburg Trieste and the related point of view on the Great War and the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the painter-athlete Napoleone Cozzi embodies irredentism and the aspiration to the annexation of Trieste to Italy, satisfied with the outcome of the conflict.

The twenty years of fascism are crossed by the myth of Emilio Comici until his premature death in 1940, while the Second World War and the Nazi occupation are illustrated by the biographies of the Bruti di Val Rosandra. One of them, Guglielmo Delvecchio, has the task of ferrying the figure of Comici into the complicated post-war period in Trieste.

A new era, from the end of the 60s, is marked by the intense personalities of Enzo Cozzolino and Tiziana Weiss, the latter with Bianca di Beaco a shining example of the large group of female mountaineers from Trieste. Finally, the enterprises of Mauro Bole, Giorgio Ramani and Andrea Varnerin move towards the contemporary age.

He concluded co-curator Flavio Ghio: "The exhibition manages to spatialize time. Following the path you cross different historical moments. The protagonists of Trieste mountaineering, among whom Emilio Comici stands out, are like orchestra conductors who direct 3 movements, namely mountaineering, daring and performance. But let's not forget that these movements would not have been possible without all the musicians".

OPENING HOURS, TECHNICAL INFO AND CONTACTS

The exhibition can be visited from 6th December at8nd June 2025 at the following times: 10-17 from Tuesday to Sunday until March 31; 10-19 every day from April 1. Entrance is included in the ticket to the San Giusto Castle. The exhibition will be accompanied by a calendar of collateral events, currently being prepared, and the publication of the catalogue is expected soon.

San Giusto Castle (Cathedral Square 3, Trieste)

www.castellodisangiustotrieste.it

castellosangiusto@comune.trieste.it

+39 040 309362

Trieste, "Verso le vette: L'alpinismo a Trieste" in mostra al Castello di San Giusto

 

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