Basilica di San Silvestro

San Silvestro preserves a Romanesque church on Trieste's San Giusto hillside. Its medieval fabric and later association with Helvetic and Waldensian Reformed congregations bring different chapters of the city's religious history together.

Why it matters

The standing basilica is associated with the twelfth-century episcopate of Bernardo. Traditions of an earlier foundation connect the site with the martyrs Tecla and Eufemia, while an inscription recalls a claim to former cathedral status. These traditions should be distinguished from the surviving Romanesque building.

What to notice

A rose window, portico and bell tower articulate the exterior. Inside, a nave and two aisles retain a comparatively simple architectural rhythm. Fourteenth-century fresco fragments include scenes associated with Constantine and a probable Annunciation, preserving traces of the church's Catholic past within its later Reformed setting.

Context and history

A restoration is recorded in 1332. After the church was auctioned under Joseph II in 1785, members of the Helvetic Evangelical community acquired it for Reformed worship. The Waldensian community became associated with the building in the late nineteenth century. Ferdinando Forlati's restoration of 1927 removed later additions and shaped its modern presentation.