Trieste

Trieste is the capital of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, in the far north-east of Italy, a port city facing the eponymous gulf of the Adriatic Sea, next to the border with Slovenia. It was the great port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a Central European past reflected in its architecture, its historic cafés and its cosmopolitan character as a crossroads between the Latin, Germanic and Slavic worlds. With more than 200,000 inhabitants, it maintains an intense maritime life, with the Barcolana — one of the largest sailing regattas in the world — as its great sporting event. Trieste was recognised by ACES Europe as European City of Sport 2011, a title that places it within the broad Italian representation of the ACES network.