Chiesa Serbo Ortodossa di San Spiridione (Saint Spyridon Church), Trieste

Saint Spyridon, a Serbian Orthodox Church in Trieste, dates from 1751. Empress Maria Theresa of Austria had received a visit from Damaskinos Omiros, a Greek monk from Mount Athos. After that, she allowed the freedom of religion for Orthodox Christians. Thanks to Brother Damaskinos, the first Eastern Orthodox Church was built in the mid-18th century, and it served as a place of worship for both local Serbs and Greeks.

In 1858, the Serbian community in Trieste announced a competition to design a new Church of Saint Spyridon. Architects from Vienna, Venice, Milan, Munich, Rome, and Florence competed. Carlo Maciachini, the architect of Milan, was selected. Maciachini was known to favor "historical styles." He designed many Romanesque-Gothic buildings.

The construction was directed by engineer Pietro Palese of Trieste. The church is Byzantine. It has a Greek Cross plan covered by a high dome with four pendentives. Over the corners of the vast central hall are four smaller domes. The main facade is Italian-Romanesque. The effect is of a monumental, majestic temple.

The exterior is covered in stone quarried from Santa Croce and Istria. The use of mosaics is limited to the exterior facades. A mosaic on a golden background above the main entrance shows Saint Spyridon. The lunette and the niches above the north entrance have mosaics of Archangel Michael, Saint Athanasius, and Saint Gregory of Nazianzus.

In the interior above the altar is a painting of the Enthroned Christ with the Apostles. The Assumption is shown on the right. On the left is the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. On the west wall is a picture of the sarcophagus of Spyridon in Korfu.

In the iconostasis are four icons of silver and gold and precious stones. Saint Spyridon, the Virgin Mary with Baby Jesus, Christ the King, and the Annunciation are represented. Above are Serbian Orthodox Saints Simeon, Sava, and Stephen. Uppermost is the Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Baptism of Christ.