Some time ago I dedicated a post to a visit to the Castle of Miramare in Trieste, but I had left out a story concerning some rooms that indicate the passage of another man who fell in love with this place.

I am referring to Duke Amedeo d’Aosta who established his residence in Miramare from 1930 to 1937.

Stories of Miramare Castle

During the tour inside the Miramare Castle, at a certain point one enters a series of rooms that seem to have nothing to do with the rest of the building.
These are the private flats of Duke Amedeo d’Aosta, who lived here with his family while he was commander of the 4th Fighter Wing in Gorizia, later to be transferred to the ‘Aquila’ Airborne Division.
These rooms, together with the kitchens of Miramare Castle, are the rooms that, more than others, tell little-known stories and, above all, allow us to enter into the daily life of the castle.

Originally, these rooms were the work area of Maximilian of Habsburg’s assistants and featured a wooden decoration similar to that on the ground floor of the castle, but when they became the private residence of the Duke of Aosta’s family, they were completely renovated and were celebrated by the prestigious magazine ‘Domus’ in 1931 as an example of a 19th-century mansion adaptation.

There are three rooms and they still have their original furnishings.
I must be honest, I don’t like the rationalist style of the 1930s and these rooms seem spartan, bare and almost military.
They have been completely overhauled and, compared to the rest of the castle, have a hospital-like appearance.
Nevertheless, they reflect a style and an era and offer the opportunity to get to know a historical figure such as Amedeo, famous for his gentle manners and the honour he showed in battle.

In 1935 Amadeus asked the King to go to the front to fight in the Ethiopian War, but was refused the request because of his position in the order of succession to the throne.
A few years later he was appointed Viceroy of Ethiopia himself.

Amadeus of Aosta was a member of the House of Savoy and was nicknamed Duke of Iron.
He received a thorough education, as befits a prince, attending St. Andrew’s College in London, the Royal College of the Nunziatella in Naples, and again in England Eton College and Oxford University.

There are many similarities between Amadeus and Maximilian, the man who strongly desired the construction of Miramare Castle.
Both belonged to an important European royal family and were educated to lead a people and an army, but above all they lived at Miramare and shared the tragic fate of leaving the castle never to return.
Amedeo d’Aosta left Miramare Castle in 1937 to become Viceroy of Ethiopia, dying in 1941 during his imprisonment in Nairobi.

It seems that Miramare Castle does not forgive its owners for being abandoned.
Those who leave Miramare, with the promise of a glorious future (Emperor of Mexico for Maximilian and Viceroy of Ethiopia for Amadeus), loom the tragic fate of seeing their dreams crumble and die.