Duino

Duino is today a seaside resort on the northern Adriatic coast. It is a hamlet of Duino-Aurisina, a municipality (comune) of the Friuli–Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy. The settlement, picturesquely situated on the steep Karst cliffs of the Gulf of Trieste, is known for Duino Castle, immortalized by the poet Rainer Maria Rilke in his Duino Elegies. Name Duino was attested in historical sources as Duino in 1139, Dewin in the 13th century, and Tybein 1370, among various other forms of the name. Although equivalents of the Slovene name appear in various Slavic languages (cf. Slovak Devín, Polish Dziewin, etc., all ultimately derived from Slavic *děva 'girl'), the name of this settlement is not originally Slavic. Instead, it derives from Romance tubīnum < Latin tubus '(water) pipe'. History The Lords of Duino, vassals of the Patriarchs of Aquileia, were first mentioned about 1150. From their ancestral seat, located on a rock high above the Adriatic Sea, they controlled the trade routes running from the city of Monfalcone along the coast to the Istrian peninsula. Serving as ministeriales of the Counts of Gorizia and also of their successors, the Habsburg archdukes of Inner Austria, they secured their position in the Friuli region.