STROLLING AROUND PIAZZAS AND PALACES
	The present set up of the Piazza dell'Unità d'Italia dates back to the nineteenth century. A vast rectangle overlooking the sea, the piazza contains the Town Hall at its far end, an electic construction of extreme interest by Giuseppe Bruni (1877). Nineteenth century buildings line up the two sides of the piazza, such as the Palazzo Modello by Bruni, the Casa Stratti (housing the Caffé degli Specchi), the Palazzo del Governo (Palace of the Government), the Lloyd Triestino palace by Enrico Ferstel, today's Hotel Duchi d'Aosta by Geiringer and, finally, the most notable Baroque building in Trieste, namely the Palazzo Pitteri by Ulderico Moro (1790). Immediately opposite is the Mazzoleni fountain (1750), representing the 4 Continents known at the time, with Charles VI's Baroque column next to it. Walking down the Riva Nazario Sauro, towards the old Lanterna, we come across the Stazione Marittima, converted into a modern Conference Centre and a brick-red construction dominated by a small bell-tower. This is the Pescheria Centrale (the Central Fish-market), which the locals confidentially call "Santa Maria del Guato". On its side is the entranceway to the Aquarium, with its collection of marine fauna. With the pulling down of the medieval walls and the reclamations of the ancient salines, the eighteenth century saw a radical reorganization of the city, ordered by Maria Theresa of Austria, the resolute empress who gave a decisive impulse to the economic development of Trieste, turning it into one of the main ports in Europe. On those buildable areas snatched from the sea, around the canal where sailing-ships would moor, loaded with goods fromm all over the world, is the Borgo Teresiano, the first stage of an innovative process which was bound to affect the architectural development of the city. The houses, in fact, do not provide many Baroque or Rococo examples, style which were spread all over Europe, but on the contrary it is the Neo-classic style which prevails. To begin with, the houses belonged to entrepeneurs and traders who used the various storeys for their profession (the ground floors as warehouses, the second floors as offices), their families (private flats on the first floors and top floors for the staff and servants) and the social class they belonged to was easily identifiable. A city undergoing such a rapid development with a remarkable use of economic resources was bound to attract a large number of skilled craftsmen and sculptors, who embellished their works with decorations, statues and bas-reliefs. Among the buildings worthy of attention is the imposing Palazzo Carciotti by Matteo Pertsch, overlooking the sea. Today, it has become the headquarters of the Harbour Office. Further significant examples in the Neoclassic style are provided by the Rotonda Panzera, which took its name after the peculiar outline of its façade (Matteo Pertsch -1818) and the church of S. Antonio Taumaturgo planned by Pietro Nobile and last noteworthy Neo-classic construction in Trieste, consecrated in 1849. In the Piazza della Borsa (the Stock-Exchange Square) the palace by A. Mollary (1806), bearing the same name, today houses the Chamber of Commerce, with a four-columned portico and allegoric statues decorating its façade. The statues represent Asia, Volcano, Europe, Mercury, Africa and America. At the top of the palace are the statues of Neptune and Minerva, the Genius of Trieste and the Danube. The massive building to its left is the Tergesteo, erected in 1842, with its ground floor crossed by a cross-vaulted arcade which, designed as a business centre, was subsequently used as Stock Exchange and today has become one of the citizens' favourite meeting places. The Palazzo Dreher can be seen on the right-hand side and it is here that the Stock Exchange was moved in 1928. Further to the right, two remarkable buildings can be observed: the Casa Rusconi and the present head-office of the Credito Italiano, one of the few examples of Baroque architecture in Trieste. A bronze statue of Leopold I, emperor of Austria, dominates the square from the top of a column. The appearance of Art Nouveau in Trieste is related to Max Fabiani's protorationalism, a kind of reaction against the omnipresence of historical styles. Structural simplicity, rational distribution of space, lightly decorated façades are the main features of Fabiani's work, which can be admired in the beautiful Casa Bartoli in the Piazza della Borsa (1905). Pronounced arkes and window paintings make possible the coexistence of the Casa Bartoli with the building of the Bank of America and Italy (Costaperaria, (1912) the entrance of which is guarded by two naturalistic-style bronze statues. Once again, in the Viale XX Settembre, two buxom female figures support cinema Eden's façade, which provides evidence that the Trieste architectural trend, though looking at Vienna and Milan for cultural inspiration, always shows some original features. Depaoli is the architect of the building at no. 22 in the Corso (1908) and Casa Smolars (1907) on the corner of the Via Dante and the Via Mazzini.