One of the great coffee houses of Central Europe, the Caffè San Marco opened in 1914 and was a regular haunt of Joyce during his Trieste years. The interior — high vaulted ceilings, dark wood panelling, art nouveau detailing — has survived almost unchanged, and the atmosphere is genuinely that of a literary café rather than a tourist reconstruction.
Joyce would come here to read, write, and hold forth on literature and politics. The café has a long association with writers and intellectuals: Italo Svevo, a Triestine writer who became one of Joyce's closest friends (and whose novel Zeno's Conscience Joyce helped bring to international attention), was also a regular. Today the café hosts book launches and cultural events, and maintains a small library. Order a cappuccino and linger — this is what Trieste does best.