Big day in Trieste / Trst: Slovenian Minority gets back Narodni dom

28.03.2022

It is a celebratory day in Trieste: with the signing of the contract for the free transfer of ownership of the Fabiani Palace, the Narodni dom officially became the property of the Slovene minority in Italy. Italian President Sergio Mattarella also attended the ceremony.

It is a celebratory day in Trieste: with the signing of the contract for the free transfer of ownership of the Fabiani Palace, the Narodni dom officially became the property of the Slovene ethnic group in Italy. Italian President Sergio Mattarella also attended the ceremony.

The Rector of the University of Trieste, Roberto Di Lenarda, and the President of the Narodni dom Foundation, Rado Race, solemnly signed a contract for the free transfer of ownership of Fabiani's palace.

According to Primorski dnevnik, a small crowd gathered in Trieste's Grand Square today to await the arrival of Italian President Mattarella. Among those present were Senator Tatjana Rojc, the Prefect of Trieste and Government Commissioner Annunziato Varde, and State Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior Ivan Scalfarotto.

"By completing this procedure in the Prefecture in the Government Palace in the presence of the President of the Republic, I think we could not expect more and we are very honored that the President of the Republic will attend the signing," he told Radio Slovenia of the signing, said Rado Race.

On July 13, 2020, on the 100th anniversary of the burning of Narodni Cathedral, a memorandum to return Trieste's Narodni Cathedral to the Slovene community in Italy was signed. The ceremony was also attended by Slovenian President Borut Pahor and his Italian counterpart Mattarella, who had earlier laid wreaths at the monuments to the Bazovik heroes and at the Bazovik foib. The date of signing the memorandum had great symbolic importance, since the Trieste fascist and nationalist forces burned down the building on that day in 1920. “Today it is a forbidden dream that has become reality. As if all the stars had finally settled after a hundred years, but they are not alone, we are all together," Pahor said at the time.

Original article from RTV Slovenija here.

Italian president Sergio Mattarella with Rado Race and Roberto Di Lenarda. Photo: President's Office