Cafeography
Trieste · Viale XX Settembre & San Giovanni

Cafés in Viale XX Settembre & San Giovanni

The pedestrian Viale XX Settembre, Caffè San Marco on Via Battisti, the synagogue and the university bars of Via Valerio.

Photo: Dragan Cenic, Pexels License

Viale XX Settembre runs for a little over a kilometer from the Janus fountain to the slopes of Bosco Farneto, and its first stretch is entirely pedestrian.12 It was once Via dell'Acquedotto, after the water main that still runs beneath it, and its present name recalls the breach of Porta Pia on 20 September 1870.2

The area reaches beyond the avenue, north to the university and east to San Giovanni. Caffè San Marco, on Via Cesare Battisti, is its best-known address, and the avenue itself has a run of bars with outdoor tables, several of them open into the evening.

Local tip: Take a gocciato at a marble table in Caffè San Marco and browse its bookshop; on Saturdays it stays open until 23:45.

At a glance

34Cafés listed
10With opening hours
06:30Earliest opening
02:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Bar Ulpiano, from 06:30 (Mon–Fri 06:30–22:00 · Sat 06:30–14:30).
  • Closes latest: Gran Bar Excelsior, until 02:00 (Mon–Sat 07:00–02:00).
  • Most common features: outdoor seating (32%), open late (15%), wi-fi (15%).

R&D Coffee

  • Viale Venti Settembre, 8
  • Mon–Thu 13:00–20:00 · Fri–Sat 10:30–20:00 · Sun 14:30–20:00
  • Air-con
  • Vegetarian options
  • Wheelchair access
  • Bubble tea
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Coffee chains in Viale XX Settembre & San Giovanni

Caffè San Marco on Via Battisti

Marco Lovrinovich opened Caffè San Marco on 3 January 1914, on the ground floor of a new building owned by Assicurazioni Generali.3 On 23 May 1915, days after Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, it was wrecked and set on fire, but firefighters saved much of the interior: marble tables on cast-iron lion-paw legs, carved masks over the bar and bronze coffee leaves on the ceiling.3

Svevo, Joyce, Saba and later Claudio Magris were regulars.3 Today it is a café, bookshop, restaurant and pastry shop in one.4 It opens 08:30–23:00 on weekdays, until 23:45 on Saturdays and 09:00–21:00 on Sundays, and has Wi-Fi.

The synagogue and Via San Francesco

San Marco's outdoor tables face the Synagogue of Trieste, which Ruggero and Arduino Berlam built in 1908–1912 at Via San Francesco d'Assisi 19.35 Pasticceria de Ily, at number 22, has vegan options and opens 07:30–19:30 Tuesday to Saturday and 08:30–14:00 on Sundays. Il Macinino is farther along the same street, at 54.

Along the avenue

Italo Svevo was born at number 16 on 16 December 1861. The avenue holds the Politeama Rossetti theater and the city's historic cinemas, and the Fiera di San Nicolò, Trieste's main fair, fills it in the week before 6 December.2

Lettera Viva, at number 31b, has plants on its balcony and serves macchiatone, chai latte, crêpes and cupcakes, with vegan and gluten-free cakes.6 It stays open until 00:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. Aqvedotto Caffè at 37c and Bar Politeama at 34/a have tables outside, and R&D Coffee, at number 8, serves bubble tea from 13:00 Monday to Thursday.

Via del Coroneo, the university and San Giovanni

Bar X, at Via del Coroneo 11, is a busy modern bar with cakes from Pasticceria Marisa and the same owners as Caffè Vatta in Opicina.6 Bar Ulpiano on Via Giustiniano opens at 06:30 on weekdays, and Gran Bar Excelsior on Largo Don Francesco Bonifacio runs 07:00–02:00 Monday to Saturday.

The University of Trieste, founded in 1924, has about 15,000 students; its main building on Piazzale Europa was begun in 1938.7 The faculty bars line Via Alfonso Valerio, where Bar di Ingegneria and Bar edificio H3 have Wi-Fi. Farther east, Il Posto delle Fragole is the bar-restaurant that gave its name to a work cooperative set up in 1979 near the psychiatric hospital, following Franco Basaglia's idea of rehabilitation through work.8

Sources

  1. Viale XX Settembre, Italia.it (ENIT), accessed October 2026
  2. Viale XX Settembre, FAI, I Luoghi del Cuore, accessed October 2026
  3. Caffè San Marco, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  4. Caffè San Marco, Caffè San Marco (official site), accessed October 2026
  5. Synagogue of Trieste, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  6. The many ways to say "coffee". The Trieste variants and the 11 best coffee bars where to find them, Gambero Rosso International (October 27, 2023), accessed October 2026
  7. University of Trieste, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  8. Trieste: the mad, the 'osmizas' and the dead German poets (Anna Castellari), Cafébabel (August 22, 2007), accessed October 2026
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In Viale XX Settembre & San Giovanni, also browse: Outdoor seating Pasticcerie Open late Wi-Fi

FAQ

Viale XX Settembre & San Giovanni cafés: questions

When did Caffè San Marco open in Trieste?

On 3 January 1914, founded by Marco Lovrinovich on Via Cesare Battisti. It was wrecked and set on fire on 23 May 1915, after Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, but much of the interior survived. Svevo, Joyce, Saba and Claudio Magris were regulars, and it is now also a bookshop and restaurant.

Is Viale XX Settembre in Trieste a pedestrian street?

Its first stretch is entirely pedestrian, and cars use the second part. The avenue runs a little over a kilometer from the Janus fountain, follows the route of the old water main, and holds the Politeama Rossetti theater, historic cinemas and, in the week before 6 December, the Fiera di San Nicolò.

Where are the university cafés in Trieste?

The faculty bars of the University of Trieste are on Via Alfonso Valerio, by the main building on Piazzale Europa, begun in 1938. Bar di Ingegneria and Bar edificio H3 have Wi-Fi. The university was founded in 1924 and has about 15,000 students.

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