Muggia: origins and history

Overlooking the protected inlet bearing the same name, Muggia is a small town of ancient origin.

Some parts of its ancinet walls still stand today, enclosing neighbourhoods with a distinctively medieval falvour. The peninsula's first human settlements date back to the mid Bronze Age, at the time of the fortified villages of Santa Barbara/Elleri and Muggia Vecchia (Old Muggia). Over the course of several centuries, the Castrum Muglae developed  over Muggia Vecchia. Later on, and especially after the raid carried out by Trieste in 1353, the population gradually moved towards the coast where a new settlement was founded and called Borgolauro: the present-day Muggia. The town's historic center, with its peculiar »tortoise« shape, developed around the Mandracchio (a small sheltered harbour protected by a wall).

The coastal village on the upper Adriatic displays all the characteristics of the 13th and 14th centuries settlements, including very interesting buildings and architectural structures. For nearly five centuries (931-1420) the town was owned by the Patriarch of Aquileia. After the end of temporal power of the Patriarch, Muggia become part of the Venetian republic until 1797. The characteristic Lion of Saint Mark can be found in many parts of the city: on the Portizza (East gate), on the City Hall and on the castle. The Venetian influence can be seen not just in buildings and architecture, but also in some traditions, such as the Carnival.

Muggia played a significant role in the 19th century when the Cantiere San Rocco (San Rocco shipyard) was opened. Today tha area of the former shipyard hosts the San Rocco tourist port. 

Muggia: origins of its name

The first apperance of the ancient name of Muggia dates back in the year 931 A.D. when the Italian kings Hugh and Lothar signed the deed with which the Land of Muggia was given to the Patriarch of Aquileia as a gift. The document mentions the Castrum Muglae: the fortified village on the hill (today Muggia Vecchia) located near the coastal swampland called mugla.

The dialect

The ancient local dailect was called muglisan and it was a variety of the Friulian langage. In the 19th century the infleunce of the Venetian language became dominant.