Tinza and Marianza were two female statues in bronze (or zinc, according to some sources) that adorned the main entrance of the City Hall of Trieste, in Piazza dell'Unità d'Italia (formerly Piazza Grande).
1. Origin and Creation
- Year of installation: 1876
- Author: Fausto Asteo from Ceneda (Vittorio Veneto), the same artist who created the famous "Moors" of the clock tower, Mikeze and Jakeze
- Function: They were torch bearers, created with both an ornamental and functional purpose: they held the lanterns that illuminated the town hall entrance
2. Characteristics and Symbolism
- Evolution of lighting: Initially they held wrought iron lanterns fueled by petroleum, later replaced by opaline glass globes with the advent of gas and electricity
- The connection with the "Moors": The popular imagination of Trieste immediately adopted them, renaming them Tinza and Marianza and considering them the wives of Mikeze and Jakeze
- Etymology: The names are "Slavicized" dialect diminutives (typical of the multiethnic Trieste of that era) of common names like Clementina/Martina and Maria
3. Presence in Popular Culture
The two statues became icons of city life, mentioned in songs and rhymes that described their privileged position at the entrance of the Palace:
"E Tinza e Marianza le sta sul porton / a veder le siore che vien del liston"
(Or: "a veder i cici che vendi carbon")
4. The Mysterious Disappearance
Unlike Mikeze and Jakeze (whose original statues are preserved at the Castle of San Giusto), Tinza and Marianza have been lost.
- Date of removal: Sources cite different dates, ranging between 1934, 1935, and 1936
- Cause: The most accredited version narrates that one of the two statues was struck and destroyed by a heavy vehicle (a truck or, according to some legends, a tank) during a wrong maneuver
- Final fate: Following the accident, both statues were removed. The surviving statue was taken to the municipal warehouses, but since then all traces have been lost. Recent searches in the City's warehouses have yielded no results, and the mayor of Trieste declared in the past that the statues have not been present in the warehouses since the early 1900s (a date that however contradicts photographic evidence from the 1930s)
5. Confusion and Mistaken Identifications
Due to their prolonged absence, citizens have often mistakenly identified other statues as "Tinza and Marianza," such as:
- The female figures in the niches under the clock tower
- The statues of Prudence and Fortitude on the Palazzo della Borsa Vecchia
However, the real Tinza and Marianza remain, to this day, a lost heritage of the city.