Trieste's Book Centre

The Trieste Book Centre is is the only Slovenian bookshop in the heart of Trieste and is managed by TS360 srl, a company founded for this purpose. The bookshop is located near the Narodni Dom, in Piazza Oberdan, where it was inaugurated on 23rd June 2015 with a solemn ceremony that saw the presence of the Minister for Slovenes Across the Border and in the World Gorazd Žmavc, the Slovenian Minister for Development Alenka Smerkolj and the Mayor of Trieste Roberto Cosolini.

The bookshop is an important resource for the Slovenian community, not only because it is a point of sale for books in the Slovenian language, but also because of the role it plays in offering a rich cultural offer that goes far beyond publishing promotion activities.

The idea of opening the bookstore came after the closure of the Trieste Bookshop – Tržaška Knjigarna, located for several decades in Via San Francesco. Both associations representing the Slovenian community in Italy participated in the realisation of the project: the Slovenska Kulturno-Gospodarska Zveza (Slovenian Cultural Economic Union) and the Svet Slovenskih Organizacij (Confederation of Slovenian Organizations), the Trieste publishing houses Mladika and Založništvo Tržaškega Tiska (Trieste Press Editorial), the Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Slovenes Abroad and in the World and the Public Agency for Slovenes publishing of the Republic of Slovenia.

The interiors were designed by SoNo Arhitekti, a team of young Slovenian architects who also designed the Slovenian pavilion at the Milan Expo, which also includes young Slovenians from Trieste Aleš Plesničar and Igor Spetič. The details recall with originality a part of the brick façade of the nearby Narodni Dom ,  designed by Max Fabiani. The space that houses the bookshop is owned by the Slovenian entrepreneur Vanja Lokar, who bought it and generously offered it for rent to the Centre.
 

This is much more than a bookshop: it plays a key role in the preservation of the Slovene language and culture, it is a mediator between Slovenian and Italian culture as well as a promotional engine for Slovenian tourism and the economy. With its activities, it contributes in supporting and promoting the dynamic life of the Slovenes of the province of Trieste, thus placing them in a broader European cultural context.

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