Miramare Castle

Miramare Castle (an Italianized form of the original Spanish Miramar) was built at the wish of Maximilian of Habsburg, Archduke of Austria and Emperor of Mexico, as his own residence to share with his wife Charlotte of Belgium. It stands on the Gulf of Trieste, a few kilometres north of the city, and was built between 1856 and 1860. It is surrounded by a large park of about 22 hectares featuring a great variety of plants, many of them chosen by the Archduke himself during the travels around the world he made as an admiral of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. In the park there is also the castelletto, a smaller building that served as the couple's residence while the castle itself was being built, but which in fact became a prison for Charlotte when she lost her mind after her husband was killed in Mexico. The walk to reach the Castle, skirting the Marine Reserve, is enchanting.