Caffè San Marco

Caffè San Marco is an Art Nouveau café in central Trieste featuring two rows of brass columns with floral capitals extending through its spacious hall. The interior displays dark wood furnishings and detailed wall paintings, with an integrated bookstore completing the space.

The café was destroyed by Austro-Hungarian troops during World War I but reopened afterward. It continued its tradition of welcoming writers and intellectuals to its halls.

The establishment was a meeting place for writers like James Joyce and Italo Svevo, who gathered here to exchange ideas and discuss their works. Visitors can still sense the traces of this literary past in the rooms where artists and thinkers came together.

The venue is located at Via Battisti 18 and combines a traditional café with a bookstore where visitors can enjoy coffee, pastries, and literature. It is open daily and easily accessible, situated in a central area of the city.

The interior walls feature original frescoes by artist Vito Timmel displaying natural motifs and geometric patterns from the early 1900s. These hand-painted decorations give the space its distinctive visual character.