They say it's best to start a story from the very beginning. And that's what makes the tour so engaging. Exploring the stories of your ancestors, from the tree's branches to its roots, retracing history in reverse in search of your home, provides a tangible connection to memory and heritage. In 2026, it will be 790 years since Jews settled in Trieste. The first Jewish cemetery in Trieste dates back to 1446. The cemetery is known in Jewish tradition as "Bet Olam," meaning "house of eternity"; the dead cannot be exhumed, and the graves cannot be desecrated. The ancient cemetery was relocated. For this occasion, several sarcophagi of rabbis from the mid-eighteenth century, along with 800 burial stones, were saved.The diversity of styles used in the construction of the tombs is remarkable. It ranges from ancient Egyptian to Greek, from Syrian to Moorish, from Gothic to Renaissance, then on to the classical nineteenth century, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and finally, modernism.
It is here, in this lush and hidden garden of eternity, that some of Trieste's most influential families have been buried since 1843. Eppinger, the first owner of La Bomboniera, Stock -the Stock distillery), Modiano, the playing card merchant, and many others remind us of a bygone era when the Jewish community of Trieste numbered 6,000 people from all over the world. From Greece, North Africa, Eastern Europe, Germany, and Portugal, these families were part of the Central European soul of Trieste. It is also a monumental example of the city's cosmopolitan and multinational history, given the presence of tombstones inscribed in Latin, Czech, Russian, German, English, and even one with a biblical verse in the Samaritan alphabet.But between the tombstones and the stems, there are surprises: the stories of men and women, encapsulated in time through the details of epigraphs, coats of arms, and final gestures.Most of the graves bear telling insignia—an object somehow related to the family, such as the Cohen blessing; classic "coats of arms" such as the hourglass, moth, alpha/omega, and ouroboros; and Masonic symbols. Fragments of a distant world, yet not so different from the present.
In death, as in life, Trieste's wealthiest families, including the Morpurgos, Cohen-Aras, and Luzzattos, live in luxurious homes. A Holocaust memorial stands on the site, two stone columns bearing the names of the victims. Elio Schmitz (Svevo's brother) and Umberto Steindler, a ship captain who saved 150,000 Jews in the 1930s, are buried in the cemetery. The Jewish cemetery in Trieste is not only infinitely beautiful, but also endless. Some 12,000 tombstones are scattered among the growing forest.Beyond the gates, a jungle awaits, but it cannot conceal the glory of memories that loved ones of the well-off middle class and the great bourgeois culture could expect.
