If you want authentic homemade delicacies, you only need to plan a short trip and visit an osmiza by car. Osmizas are visitable estates in the mountains around Trieste, where locally grown and produced delicacies – wine, bread, ham, cheese, vegetables, brandy, and all sorts of good things – can be eaten, drunk, and purchased. There are also osmizas where you can book a room. If the estate is open, they signal with a green branch in the area that they’re waiting for guests, but fortunately, you can now also book visits online.
The local feasting tradition dates back to the time of Charlemagne, when Tergeste became part of the Frankish Kingdom, and the ruler authorized all winemakers of the empire to sell their wine directly, indicating this activity by displaying an ivy branch.
The existence of medieval osmizas is proven by several written materials: a document from 1430 writes that Prosecco farmers claimed their locally sold wine was duty-free. Then Joseph of Habsburg renewed the medieval permit in 1784, allowing peasants to sell their wine and produce from their own cellars tax-free on their own premises. Local oral tradition still attributes the permit to Maria Theresa, as so many developments happened in the city during her time that locals still think of her with gratitude. We also wrote this earlier, but then our dear reader, Mónika, pointed out that Maria Theresa couldn’t really have made decrees in 1784 because she had been dead for 4 years by then. Thank you for brimging it to our attention!
