Happy learners are good learners! A blog for and by LFM pupils in Moscow.

During my last holidays I have been to Trieste and I have visited a castle.. I had already visisted this castle but I enjoyed it so much I decided to visit it again.

Archduke Ferdinand Maximillian was the brother of the Emperor FRANCIS JOSEPH of HAPSBURG;

In 1855 he decided to build a castle on the headland near the Bay of Grigano and to create a garden in the area.He decided this garden would become a botanical experimentation site.

In fact Maximillian took many trips around the Mediterranean, especially Greece, Turkey,Sicily , Spain, Portugal and even Brazil, where he catalogued various species of plants.

The castle is built in Istrian stone and presents many styles- Medieval, Neo-Gothic and English-Gothic.

In 1857 Maximillian wedded Charlotte of Belgium and the couple moved into the castle at Chrstmas 1860.

On the ground floor are situated the royal apartments.

He wanted to recreate the ambiance he knew from living on board a ship. He even called their bedroom 'cabin' and his study 'Novara' , similar to the one aboard the flagship Novara.

There is a sea-view from all the windows and he therefore had the impression of being aboard a ship.