Literary reflections in Trieste's mirror cafes

The Caffe degli Specchi, Mirror Café, is one of Trieste's oldest cafes that established its reputation from the social scene of the Belle Epoche. Opened in 1839 it later became a meeting point for some of Trieste's known writers, including Italo Svevo, Franz Kafka and James Joyce.

The Antico Caffe San Marco or the Stella Polare are others of letterati choice and the social networking of the time established a deep café culture in which to meet, exchange ideas and think.
Italo Svevo was born in the city, although it was part of Austro-Hungarian territory at the time. An Italian author he is best known for his play Zeno's Conscience, which explored the psychoanalytical ideas of Sigmund Freud.
Around Trieste the Svevian museum collects all possible information on the author, there is a city tour in Italo Svevo's shoes and his plays can usually be found in at least one of the city's theatres.

Svevo was championed by Ireland's famous author, James Joyce. Although Joyce's tales were set in the country of his youth, he spent much of his time overseas, particularly in Trieste. Here he taught at the Berlitz English school and began to write Ulysses. His statue gazes out over Trieste's port and the small museum dedicated to him traces his life and fiction in the city.

Joyce and Svevo are just two of the writers who called Trieste home. Many more were drawn by the city's charms. Amongst them Jules Verne with his science fiction, Hans Christian Andersen with his fairytales, Franz Kafka with his political drama and the poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, whose stay at Duino just outside the city led to the creation of the panoramic, seaside Rilke path.

Whether you're reading a book yourself or seeking to discover exactly what did inspire those artists of the region, this city of coffee culture, where beans are roasted by the shops themselves, is the perfect place to order a mug, pull up a chair and reflect on the more literary side of life.