Roiano is an ancient district of Trieste located in a sloping valley called Val Martinaga, framed by the karst edge of Opicina, the hill of Gretta/Greta and Terstenico/Trstenik (today known as Monte Radio) and the hill of Scorcola towards the city.
Medieval Origins and Initial Development
Its existence is documented since the year one thousand, as evidenced by the chapel dedicated to San Pietro, which represents one of the oldest material traces of the area.
In the 1804 census, Roiano had just 47 houses and 100 inhabitants, doubled already in 1810 to over 100 houses and 200 inhabitants. The territory was divided into various hamlets:
- Pischianzi (or Sottomonte)
- Scala Santa
- Case Sparse
- Molini
- Moreri
- Verniellis
- Cordaroli
- San Pietro
traversed by four streams fundamental to the local economy, today remembered in Piazza tra i Rivi:
- Rio Montorsino
- Rio Scalze
- Rio dei Molini
- Rio Carbonara
The Habsburg Period
During the Habsburg Period, Roiano experienced significant expansion following a building impetus linked to the demographic and urban growth of Trieste; the Emo Tarabocchia elementary school, founded in 1867, represents one of the first civil schools in the district with bilingual sections in Italian and Slovenian, reflecting the multiethnic composition of the city.
Among the notable projects of the time stands out the construction of the parish of the Saints Ermacora and Fortunato, dedicated to the Aquileian martyrs believed to be evangelizers of the region. The project, started in 1856 on commission from the Municipality of Trieste and with architects such as Francesco Catolla and Giuseppe Bernardi, was complex due to the confluence of four streams, and the church was consecrated in 1862 by Bishop Bartolomeo Legat. Its Latin cross structure represents a significant architectural element of the district.
The Post-War Period and Social Transformations
In the first post-war period, Roiano also played an important role from a political and social point of view: in 1934 a prison for anti-fascists was built, which after the Second World War was transformed into the current Guido Brunner middle school (former vocational training school), a testimony to the tensions and resistance in the area during the fascist twenty years.
In summary, Roiano is a district that bears witness to the historical and cultural stratification of Trieste, with important events ranging from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, through the architectural and social transformations of a rural district that progressively became an integral part of the city, in a context characterized by the meeting and coexistence of Italian and Slovenian populations.