In 1886 the Excelsior lido, which still exists today, was founded, followed by rowing clubs and other beach establishments, some of which still exist. The history of this model for many beach resorts began in 1886 when the Di Salvore family, who owned land in Barcola, received the concession to use the area around the former Roman Villa Maritima of Barcola. In 1890, the architect Edoardo Tureck was commissioned by Alessandro Cesare di Salvore, a shipowner, city councilor and theater director, to build a bathing facility at the natural sandbar, and in 1895 the hotel of the same name was also built across the street. The then well-known and flourishing bathhouse Excelsior, which passed on to other owners in the following years, was expanded several times, so in 1909 a small theater and a restaurant were integrated. According to a local story, the world champion in underwater fishing Claudio Martinuzzi learned in the 1980s at the Excelsior lido to swim. The beach complex, located on a historic Roman soil, has been converted into apartments or bath huts with a unique sandy beach in Trieste. A unique peculiarity for Italy is that due to the unique overlap of Habsburg and Italian law in the area of this historic beach complex, the beach is not public state property, but private property.