Arco di Riccardo

It is unexpected. It suddenly appears, between the houses. The Arco di Riccardo is a Roman trace set into the medieval fabric. Not monumental. Not isolated. Integrated. You pass under it almost distractedly, then stop. The stone tells of a distant time, when Trieste was a Roman colony facing the sea. Around it, the streets are narrow. The houses close together. The modern city flows a few metres away, but here remains a fragment of silent antiquity. Trieste is made of overlays. Everything flows, Heraclitus would say. But nothing is erased.