Trieste also has its Grand Canal, with its mouth at the Bacino di San Giorgio, in the Porto Vecchio. It is still used, and it leads directly into the heart of the district built in the middle of the 18th century under the instructions of Maria Theresa of Austria. It was completed in 1756 by the Venetian Matteo Pirona by digging out the main salt-pit which had originally been on the site. In its early days it was a true harbour and extended as far as the neo-classical church of Sant'Antonio Nuovo. The upper section was later filled in using debris from the Old Town at the end of the First World War, and is now a square of the same name. A small Austrian warship was among the debris to be buried, since no-one wanted to claim ownership.
Three turntable bridges allowed sailing ships to go right into the very heart of the city to unload their goods. Of the three, only two remain, but the present name of the square, Ponterosso (= red bridge), reminds us of the colour of one of the three originals.
On the bridge can be seen the statue James Joyce, hurrying towards his apartment in the nearby building, which today houses a café dedicated to his memory. For many years there has been a lively street market for fruit vegetables and flowers here, where the traders (venderigole in the local dialect) still call out their wares. The fountain in the centre of the square was fed by water from the spring in the district of San Giovanni, which led the local people to give the nickname Giovanin de Ponterosso to the small statue.

Point of interest
In addition to James Joyce's home, the square and the canal are overlooked by many interesting buildings, such as the Serbian Orthodox Church of San Spiridione and the Genel, Carciotti, Aedes (called the "red skyscraper") and Gopcevic Palaces,this with its red and white façade and which today houses the theatrical museum Carlo Schmidl.