A BIT OF HISTORY

The "Arco di Riccardo" is one of the most important monuments in Trieste. It was built around I Century B.C. when the Emperor Augustus established a Roman colony named Tergeste. According to many historians it was the gate of the ancient city walls as it stood along the main Roman way. In 1913 news excavations unearthed a few ruins pertaining to a holy area dedicated to the "magna mater" of which the arch could have been the entrance. Extensive and widespread archaeological activity allowed a precise map of the ancient Roman city and to emphasise the importance of the Arch as a strategic point of the area.

Several Hypothesis have been advanced also for the name: historians are keen on considering it a deformation of the name "cardo", the name of a Roman street, or "ricario", a medieval courthouse located in the area. Local legends refer to the transformation of the name Charlemagne, to whom the Arch was dedicated after his passage in the city.

The Arch is the only Roman monument to have remained visible throughout
the Centuries even if it is incorporated into the surrounding buildings, a characteristic it maintains even today literally entering into the Restaurant ArcoRiccardo.

If the Restaurant is open, do not hesitate to walk in – apart from the remaining portion of the Arch that is not visible from outside, you can also see the base of a door, dating late republic, recently discovered.

The RESTAURANT ARCORICCARDO reopened in 2006 and represents the evolution of a centenary tradition. In the early 19th Century it hosted the Osteria dell'Antico Trionfo, where the famous "Opollo di Lissa" was served, the most important and valuable Dalmatian white wine of that time, also appreciated by James Joyce, regular and devoted client of the "Trionfo" during his stay in Trieste (1912-1915).

It then became the tavern "All'Arco di Riccardo" and for years it was one of the most popular and original meeting places in town; after ten years of closure and a total restyling, the RESTAURANT ARCORICCARDO renews the tradition of this famous place.