Stratti Palace

In 1839 the wealthy merchant Nicholas Stratti built a palace in front of Palazzo Pitteri, in "Piazza Grande", that could emulate this Palazzo of Carciotti, which dominated the shores for forty years.

For the design, Stratti turned to Antonio Buttazzoni, one of the most talented architects still in Trieste after the death of Pertsch and the departure of P. Nobile.

The present appearance of the building is not that of the original design, because it was subsequently amended first by Andrea Seu, and later by Eugenio Geiringer and Giovanni Righetti, which gave it its current eclectic appearance. The changes of Geiringer and Righetti affected only the side facing Piazza Unità.

In Butazzoni's design, the main facade should have been facing Capo di Piazza, not Piazza Grande, because he believed that most of the city bustle would have developed on that front, due to its proximity to the Theatre (1801) and to the Tergesteo (1842), that was being built.

Seu worked a series of modifications on all three façades, the most massive of which was on the Capo di Piazza side. This was done with the inclusion of additional pilasters and the correction of the asymmetric structure with appropriate increases to the lateral structures and by relocating the balconies.

In 1846 the palace became the property of Assicurazioni Generali (General Assurance) which in 1872 provided the implementation of a radical restructuring of the façade designed by architects Geiringer and Righetti who gave it its present appearance. The façade was radically transformed so that the building could conform to the new large city square, that in those years was gradually taking shape.

The restoration was radical: not a single element of the original facade remained in testimony of Buttazzoni's design, both in the transformation of pre-existing elements, and in the addition 'ex novo' of a series of decorative motifs (floral friezes and festoons, four statues to the right and four to the left between the windows, representing classical deities) that give the building a fully eclectic appearance.

We must outline the two wings of the prospectus: four fluted Ionic pilasters are inserted at the second and third floor; the motif continues to the next floor with decorative rectangles; and on the last floor, four statues are located at the end.

The facade is crowned by a balustrade, which resumes the motif of the long balcony and the lateral motifs on the second floor, and is completed by a group of sculptures, the work of the venetian Luigi Zandomeneghi, representing Trieste surrounded by allegories of Fortune and Progress.

A curious detail of the sculptural group is the model of the locomotive Stephenson gave to Austria in 1837. Buttazzoni wanted it in the hope that Trieste could be connected as soon as possible with Austria. On the left, the owl, a bird sacred to Minerva, represents Reason against Darkness.

The historic Caffè degli Specchi is located on the ground floor, while the upper floors house an agency of the Assicurazioni Generali and more offices.