Piazza Hortis was an ancient cemetery site from the early Christian era and was then created following the demolition in 1788 of part of the thirteenth-century convent of the Friars Minor of San Francesco annexed to the current

church of Sant’Antonio Vecchio (today Beata Vergine del Soccorso). First the French named it Lutzen Square to celebrate Napoleon’s victory, then the Habsburgs Leipzig Square to celebrate the defeat of the French and then Piazza Attilio Hortis as a tribute to one of the most illustrious directors in charge of the Civic Library which overlooks the square.

The square is almost entirely covered by a huge garden of about 2100 square meters. surface where you can admire precious trees. At the center is a work by Giovanni Mayer and the statue of Jacopo Hortis. In 1822 the Library was moved from Piazza Unità

to Casa Biserini, a building built on another demolished part of the Franciscan convent.

In front of the Civic Library is the statue of the writer Italo Svevo, a symbol of the literary culture of the square. 2004 work by the Trieste sculptor Nino Spagnoli.