Day 01
Walking Through Roman and Medieval Aosta
- The guided tour of Aosta takes you to discover the ancient Augusta Praetoria, founded by the Romans to control the areas north of Italy as well as the nearby regions of France and Switzerland.
- We begin by admiring the perfectly preserved Roman Bridge, located above the ancient course of the Buthier River, near one of the most famous Roman monuments in Aosta: the Arch of Augustus, built to celebrate the victory of the emperor who gave the town its name.
- Entering the historic center, we visit the beautiful Collegiate Church of Sant'Orso, a complex that includes a Lombard Romanesque bell tower, the church with frescoes, mosaics, a wooden choir, and a suggestive crypt, the Priory, the Renaissance residence of the Prior, and the magnificent Romanesque Cloister of Sant'Orso with 40 capitals illustrating scenes from the Gospel. We will also notice a local curiosity, the Tree of S. Orso, which became a National Monument and is said to have been planted by the saint himself in the 1500s.
- We continue the tour to the monumental Porta Praetoria, the town's main Roman gateway with three openings. Not far away stands the Roman Theater, which we will admire from the outside, with its 22-meter-high facade and wonderful panorama of the Alps, making it one of the symbols of Aosta and of Roman architecture. Walking through the characteristic streets of the historic center, we arrive at the town's main square, Piazza Chanoux, with the Alpino monument at its center, dedicated to the Aosta Valley soldier, and some of the city's most beautiful historic buildings, including the richly decorated neoclassical Town Hall, the historic Caffè Nazionale built on the remains of the Convent of San Francesco, and the 18th-century Hotel des Etats, famous as the seat of the local parliament that depended on the King.
- We end the guided tour by visiting the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, the most important and ancient religious building in Aosta, erected on the sacred area of the Roman Forum. Here you will see two 60-meter-high Romanesque bell towers and the beauty of the Renaissance atrium with terracotta statues and frescoes telling the story of the Virgin Mary. Inside, we can admire precious cycles of frescoes, stained glass windows, mosaics on the pavement, and a beautiful 15th-century cloister.
