Castello di Miramare unveils restored historic kitchens in new museum route

Castello di Miramare in Trieste has restored and reopened its historic kitchens, revealing the hidden service areas where meals were prepared for Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg and his consort Charlotte of Belgium in the second half of the 19th century. The kitchens, located in the basement with a north-facing exposure for food preservation, lacked original furnishings except for a few pieces. Using 1861 floor plans by Carl Junker preserved in the museum archive, the museum reconstructed the spatial layout and functions of each room around the main kitchen. The restoration, led by museum director Andreina Contessa, involved exterior and interior work, systems upgrades, and digital inventorying of the collection of tableware. Since no original illustrations or tools existed, the museum opted for a scenographic approach that is both rigorous and inventive, respecting the original space division while creating a functional visible storage. New furnishings include tableware once belonging to the Dukes of Aosta and a small selection of crystals used by the Habsburg court. The project aims to evoke the atmosphere of the era through surviving ovens and a large stone sink basin, while the Archduke's original tableware remains in Vienna.