L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 6 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS Continued from page 4 to hill, between a former c e m e t e r y a n d a s t e e p descent lined with trees," she explains. The Bora wind blows into the Gulf of Trieste, evoking a sense of mystery around the little Vienna by the sea, as people dubbed Trieste. Like a restless lady, she is suspended in an Austro- H u n g a r i a n p a s t r i c h i n cemeteries. Cosmopolitan b a n k e r s a n d m e r c h a n t s lived there, as evidenced by seven cemeteries - Catholic, J e w i s h , I s l a m i c , G r e e k - Orthodox, Serbian-Ortho- dox, Evangelical, and the military with graves of all religions. The city is home to the largest European syn- agogue, a mosque, and a beautiful Serbian Orthodox C h u r c h , S a n S p i r i d i o n e basilica, adorned with gold mosaics and oriental-style d o m e s a n d s p i r e s . T h e n there are several Lutheran, Waldensian, Methodist, and Anglican churches. The visitor fond of ghost s t o r i e s s h o u l d l o o k f o r Piazzetta Barbacan – in the Città Vecchia district again: legend has it that a lady dubbed the Straniera (the Foreigner) inhabits the place. "It is an urban legend set there, near the Arch of Riccardo, an area that liter- ary genius James Joyce frequented a lot due to the large numbers of taverns," says Deiuri. The Straniera i s a s o r t o f W h i t e L a d y ghost, one of those report- edly seen in rural areas of many countries and associ- ated with local legends of t r a g e d y . " S o m e h o w , t h e Straniera also recalls the legend of the Castellana di Duino, the lady of Duino c a s t l e k i l l e d b y h e r h u s - band. Her name was Esteri- n a , a n d l i k e h e r f e l l o w ghosts of San Giusto and Miramare castles, she came out on a full moon. Those nights, she wanders around the rooms of her mansions in search of a cradle." Ms. Deiuri refers to a Tri- este under Habsburg rule until WWI. "It is because, in Habsburg Trieste, we find a very different Trieste, not always as prosperous and orderly as it was said to be at that time," she points out. "Habsburg Trieste expressed t h e l i f e v i s i o n o f w e a l t h y merchants and famous writ- ers, but it also gave voice to commoners. There was an underground city, which is not part of history, a place that resurfaces in legends and feuilletons - works of fic- tion catering to popular taste and printed in installments in newspapers and maga- zines. "Some stories are legends, o t h e r s w e r e f a c t s , n e w s e v e n t s , " e x p l a i n s D e i u r i . "The fourth and fifth chap- ters are dedicated to both real and literary characters connected to Trieste." The city produced brilliant writers such as Italo Svevo, Umberto Saba, and Claudio Magris. But among Trieste's most revered authors are R a i n e r M a r i a R i l k e a n d James Joyce, who lived and found inspiration in Trieste. Joyce became Svevo's best buddy and stayed, drank, and wrote in Trieste for 16 years. T o d a y , G e r m a n c r i m e author Veit Heinichen lives in the Duino hamlet nearby the castle overlooking the sea. Duino castle had given hospitality to Rainer Maria Rilke in 1912. Grieving ghosts and vam- pires inhabits Trieste's cas- tles and magnificent palaz- zos. Also, a master of gothic h o r r o r s u c h a s E s t o n i a n count Stanislaus Eric von Stenbock mentioned Trieste i n h i s c l a s s i c t a l e o f t h e macabre, The True Story of a V a m p i r e . " H i s b o o k w a s released three years before the famed novel Dracula by B r a m S t o k e r , " e x p l a i n s Deiuri. "Stanislaus Eric von Stenbock cited Trieste as an occasional destination for Count Vardalek, a vampire w h o s e n a m e c o m e s f r o m Slavic folklore." M s . D e i u r i s a y s t h a t Americans might be interest- ed in a story that recalls the f o l k l o r i c c h a r a c t e r o f t h e headless horseman present i n E u r o p e a n a n d N o r t h American legends, literature, and cinema. "Think of Wash- ington Irving's famous short story, The Legend of Sleepy H o l l o w , " s h e s a y s . " T h a t character reminds me of the headless ghost of our Castle of San Giusto." According to the legend, ghost soldiers roam the castle's courtyard, halls, and basement on a full moon night. Their captain, Babuder, who looked like hell and dressed in armor, carries his head under his arm. Legend has it that he was beheaded after he had tried to steal a treasure. But there is another version of the story: Babuder appears headless because he hid his head somewhere. Whoever finds it will also find a trea- sure buried with it." Ms. Deiuri says that Tri- este boasts a long freema- s o n r y t r a d i t i o n . " T r i e s t e grand masonic's lodges were born after Emperor Charles VI of Habsburg declared Tri- este a free port in 1719," she explains. After the French R e v o l u t i o n , F r e e m a s o n s were accused of worshipping L u c i f e r . " A n d C a s e d e l Diavolo in Trieste were their homes. Spirits would haunt t h e m o n c e t h e b r o t h e r s died," she says. D e i u r i b e l i e v e s t h a t i n moments of social crisis or s i g n i f i c a n t c h a n g e , t h e themes linked to mystery always resurface, and there i s a r e n e w e d i n t e r e s t i n Weird Fiction, a subgenre o f f i c t i o n t h a t u t i l i z e s aspects of fantasy, horror, and supernatural fiction. Trieste has been mytholo- gized as a crossroads reflect- ing European tensions and blending different cultures and ethnic groups. Tradi- tionally, you hear people speaking German, Italian, Slavic, and Hungarian. And even the Triestine dialect incorporates traces of Ger- man, Italian, Slovene, Greek and Croatian. Ms. Deiuri cannot help but mention Nella Doria Cambon and Sir Richard Francis Burton. The for- mer was the most famous spiritualist in Trieste who animated a salon home to intellectual activity. Writers Italo Svevo, Gabriele D'An- n u n z i o a n d T o m m a s o Marinetti were among her g u e s t s . T h e l a t t e r w a s a B r i t i s h c o n s u l , e x p l o r e r , w r i t e r , O r i e n t a l i s t , a n d swordsman who lived in Tri- este for 18 years until his death in 1890. Both main- tained a delicate balance of e c c e n t r i c i t y , i n s p i r a t i o n , drama, mystery, and emo- tion. T h e f r o n t i e r c i t y t h a t embodied the prosperous multiculturality of the Aus- tro-Hungarian empire is still a mysterious "Nowhere," to borrow an expression from renowned Welsh journalist and travel writer Jan Morris. Still, Trieste is one of a kind place where everything is possible. Deiuri says that "in these uncertain times, the rediscovery of the past helps imagine a future. People meet their inner demons in the characters of certain strange stories to defuse them" The Rotonda Pancera in Trieste, another haunted destination in the Friuli Venezia-Giulia port city (Artwork and copy- right: Lisa Deiuri)

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