THE CASTLE

THE CASTLE

The Castle of Miramare and its Park were built at the behest of Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg, who decided, around 1855, to have a residence on the outskirts of Trieste that was befitting to his rank, overlooking the sea and surrounded by an extensive garden.
Fascinated by the impervious beauty of the promontory of Grignano, a sheer karst outcrop overlooking the sea, almost devoid of vegetation, Maximilian purchased several plots of land in the area in late 1855. The ceremony for the laying of the foundation stone of the castle took place on 1 March 1856. On Christmas Eve 1860, Maximilian and his wife, Charlotte of Belgium, moved into the castle on the first floor of the building whose exterior was completed at the date, while the interior was only partially finished, as works were still continuing on the second floor.
The castle, designed by Austrian engineer Carl Junker, is eclectic in style according to the architectural fashion of the time: gothic, medieval, and renaissance models are combined into a striking fusion and are echoed in the homes that in those very years the aristocracy had built for themselves in alpine landscapes on the banks of lakes and rivers.
In Miramare Castle, Maximilian accomplished a perfect synthesis of nature and art, Mediterranean scents and austere European forms, recreating an absolutely unique setting thanks to the presence of the sea, which dictated the choice of the colour blue of the tapestries on the first floor of the Castle, and inspired the names and furnishings of several rooms.
The interior design bears the signature of craftsmen Franz and Julius Hofmann:
the first floor, intended for Maximilian and Charlotte’s private apartments, has an intimate, homely atmosphere, while the second floor was the main floor, reserved for their guests who would be dazzled by the sumptuous decorations rich in coats of arms and red tapestries bearing imperial insignia.