The Galleria di Montuzza, also known as the Galleria della Fornace and today called the Galleria de Sandrinelli, is an architectural and infrastructural work of significance in the urban history of Trieste, whose construction dates back to the early twentieth century, during the Habsburg period.
Design and Construction
The project of the gallery, conceived as early as 1901, was born with the aim of directly connecting piazza Goldoni with the area of San Giacomo by crossing the hill of Montuzza (then also known as Monte della Fornace). The gallery was designed in synergy with the new tram line that would cross its space, thus consolidating urban mobility between the city center and the peripheral areas.
The works, entrusted to the Bertolero and Giacchetti company, began on 19 August 1904 and lasted about 15 months, involving 350 miners. Real explosive perforations were necessary in the rocky bed of the hill; the last section was excavated on 18 November 1905. The gallery was opened to the public on 10 February 1908 without official ceremonies, but with great popular participation.
The cost of the work was about 4 million and 800 thousand crowns.
Architecture and Urban Planning
From an architectural and urban planning point of view, the Galleria di Montuzza represented an important transformation of the city's traffic, allowing a more convenient route from piazza Goldoni to the eastern neighborhoods. It was articulated in:
- Two galleries connected by an open-air section
- The complementary Scala dei Giganti, a monumental staircase designed later by Ruggero and Arduino Berlam to facilitate access to the hill of Montuzza and which became a visual symbol of the area
Post-War Evolution
After the Great War, in 1922 the gallery was named after the podestà Scipione de Sandrinelli, an episode that marked a moment of symbolic renewal in the full fascist period. In 1928, during the construction of the overlying via Capitolina, a monumental portal was built at the entrance of the gallery and the grandiose Scala dei Giganti was completed, a sign of the persistence of interest in urban monumentality even in the early post-war period.
Historical Significance
In the long arc of its history, the Galleria di Montuzza has thus represented not only a crucial element for the traffic of Trieste in the context of a rapidly expanding city, but also a symbol of the social and cultural transformations of the Habsburg and post-Habsburg period. It testifies to the link between urban planning, architecture and the political dynamics of the city, remaining today a precious historical testimony and a point of reference for residents and tourists.