You will see it standing majestically, surrounded by a lush historical park, on the tip of the Grignano promontory that embraces the Gulf of Trieste, about 6 kilometres from the city centre.

Miramare Castle dates back to the mid-19th century and was built at the request of Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian Of Habsburg, who wanted to live there with his wife Charlotte of Belgium. Legend has it that Maximilian first fell in love with this place, which was then just a rocky promontory with no vegetation when he took shelter from a storm in the small harbour of Grignano.

Inside the Castle, a stately home that is now an independent National Museum, visitors can admire the rooms where Maximilian of Habsburg and his wife lived, as well as the guest rooms with their original mid-19th-century décor (ornaments, furniture and objects) and the Throne Room with its magnificent trussed ceiling.

Part of the building is dedicated to the historical reconstruction of the 20th-century history of the Castle when it was the residence of Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta (from the 1930s). A number of the improvements and modernisations still in use in the House-Museum are the work of the Duke: he installed a telephone line, the radiator heating system as well as a lift. He also modified some of the rooms with furniture of his time in the rationalist style and replaced the Imperial-Royal insignia with the Savoy crosses.

Covering an area of almost 22 hectares, the magnificent park features a wide variety of botanical species and monumental trees that were selected by the Archduke himself during his travels around the world as an Admiral of the Austrian Military Navy. The park also includes the small castle, which was once the residence of the newlyweds during the construction of the main palace. The “Castelletto”, a true treasure chest of wonders, has recently been restored to its original splendour.