"Shine and remember those lost at sea" reads the inscription carved above the entrance to the Victory Lighthouse, above an anchor from the first Italian warship to enter the port of Trieste in 1918, the destroyer Audace. This imposing, white-stone structure was built with a dual purpose: that of a traditional lighthouse and that of a monument to the sailors lost during the Great War. Today it is managed by the Ministry of Defence and is open to the public. It dominates the costal profile of the city from the Gretta plateau, and rises above the former main tower of the Austro-Hungarian Fort Kressich to reach a height of 70 metres above ground level. Its beam can be seen from 35 miles away.
At the top of the lighthouse, victory is shown as a winged angel, built out of copper by Giacomo Srebot to the designs of the sculptor Giovanni Mayer. The statue is over 7 metres high and is supported by a steel beam which, thanks to the movement of a system of internal cables, enables the statue to withstand the powerful Trieste wind - the famous Bora - by changing the inclination of the metal wings depending on the direction of the wind.

Point of interest
A crowd in festive mood and encouraged by the sirens of all the civilian and military boats and ships gathered in the gulf especially for the event watched the inauguration of the lighthouse which was lit symbolically by king Victor Emanuel III in 1927.