When you visit Trieste, make sure you save a few hours to go and visit this place.

The castle was built from 1856 to 1860 for Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and his wife Charlotte of Belgium, better known as Emperor Maximilian and Empress Carlota. Their “backyard” – a 54 acres garden - was designed by Maximilian himself.

Being raised in Trieste I have a lot of wonderful memories of this place. My dad liked bringing us all there for a stroll in the park, “to see the squirrels, feed the swans, and sit on the cannons” or to visit the castle.

I always loved everything about this place and was always trying to imagine Maximilian and Carlota walking in the gardens and living in that beautiful castle built right on the sea with all those different tinted windows, whose purpose was to be able to see all day long the colors of the sky and the sea that appears in different times of the day.

Of course, I also always hoped to experience the “famous ghost” said to be walking the castle and the gardens: in 1864 Maximilian was captured and shot at age of 35 during the civil war in Mexico, where he had moved with Carlota after being offered the title of Emperor of Mexico, and according to the legend, his soul returned to Miramare to enjoy his garden. (There is a second legend too: Carlota, who became mentally ill after Maximilian’s death, is said to have put a curse on the castle so that all royal or military couples who would overnight there would die of a violent death away from their home country, which… actually did happen for some folks).

This place is right outside the city and easily reachable by car or bus. If you want to reach it by public transportation (which I would recommend anyways), be prepared to travel in buses which can be overcrowded: to get there you have to pass Barcola, the “beach neighborhood” of the city, a favorite spot for locals who love to go there in summer for the beach, but also anytime the weather is pleasant.

I moved abroad many years ago and never had the chance to go back to Miramare until last year. Apparently the entire place had been much neglected for many years in the past, but luckily a lot of restorations (some still in place) brought it back to its past splendor. The garden is as gorgeous, although some spots have now limited access to the public (sorry: no more sitting on the cannons!). Walking in the park is very relaxing: there is a wide range of different trees and vegetation, trails, fountains, a small lake (no swans though…) and even the coffee place is open again! The “small castle” and the “greenhouses” are still under restoration, but the beautiful panorama that you can enjoy from the park never changed.

The only bad part in my opinion is the street that brings you the park and castle. It is a small side road but since you can still park along it (for a fee), it can be extremely busy with cars and pedestrian don’t have a lot of room left to walk: I wish that stretch would be closed to cars, at least starting from the ex-stables of the castle.

The entrance to the park is free but there is a fee for the castle, which unfortunately I couldn’t visit: I was there on a sunny Sunday morning and there was a huge line waiting.