Information about Aosta


Municipal coat of arms
Country	Italy
Region	Aosta Valley
Province	none
Mayor	Guido Grimod

Area	km
Population
- Total (as of December 31, 2004)
- Density	/km
Time zone	CET, UTC+1
Coordinates
Gentilic	Aostani (Aostains)
Dialing code	0165
Postal code	11100
*Frazioni*	Arpuilles, Cache, Champailler, Entrebin, Excenex, Laravoire, Porossan, Seyssinod, Signayes, Vignole, Cossan
Patron	St. Gratus
- Day	September 7
Website: www.comune.aosta.it

Aosta Cathedral.

Porta Praetoria.

Aosta (French: Aoste) is the principal city of the bilingual Aosta Valley in the Italian Alps, 110km north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel, at the confluence of the Buthier and the Dora Baltea, and at the junction of the Great and Little St. Bernard routes. Aosta is not the capital of the province, as these functions are shared by the region and the communes.

Aosta.

Arches of the Roman Theatre.

History

Aosta was settled in proto-historic times and later became a Celtic-Ligurian city of the Salassi. Terentius Varro captured it in 25 BC and founded the Roman colony of Augusta Praetoria. After 11 BC Aosta became the capital of the Alpes Graies ("Grey Alps") province of the Empire.

After the fall of the Western Empire, the city was conquered by the Burgundians, the Ostrogoths, the Byzantines. The Lombards, who had annexed it to their Italian kingdom, were expelled by the Franks of Pepin the Younger. Under Charlemagne Aosta acquired importance as a post on the Via Francigena, leading from Aachen to Italy. After 888 it was part of the renewed Kingdom of Italy under Arduin of Ivrea and Berengar of Friuli.

In the 10th century Aosta became part of the Kingdom of Burgundy. After the fall of the latter in 1032, it entered the lands of Umberto I Biancamano of the House of Savoy . After the creation of the county of Savoy, with its capital in Chambéry, Aosta followed its history, as well as the later Kingdom of Sardinia and unified Italy.

Under the House of Savoy, Aosta was granted a special status that it maintained when the new Italian Republic was proclaimed in 1948.

Main sights

The main monuments of the city include:

The Arch of Augustus, erected in 35 BC to celebrate the victory of the Roman troops led by consul Varro Murene over the local Salassi.
The Porta Praetoria (1st century AD), once the eastern gate to the city, which has preserved its original forms apart from the marble covering. It is formed by two series of arches enclosing a small square.
The Roman theatre, of which the southern façade remains today, 22 m tall. The structure, dating from the late reign of Augustus, occupied an area of 81 x 64 m: it could contain up to 4,000 spectators. In the nearby was the amphitheatre, built under Claudius.
The Cathedral of Aosta, built in the 4th century and replaced in the 11th century by a new edifice dedicate to the Madonna. It is annexed to the Roman Forum.
The Romanesque-Gothic Sant'Orso (Saint-Ours). Its most evocative feature is the ancient cloister, which can be entered through a hall on the left of the façade. It is dedicated to Ursus of Aosta.
The Saint-Bénin College, built about 1000 by the Benedictines. It is now an exhibition site.
Of the 20 towers of the Roman walls the following are well preserved:
Tour du lépreux, which has been given this name after a leper was jailed there in the late 17th century. Le lépreux de la cité d'Aoste, a novel by Xavier de Maistre, was named after this tower.
Tour Neuve (13th century).
Tour du Pailleron.
Tower (Castle) of Bramafan, built in the 11th century over a Roman bastion. It was the residence of the Savoy viscounts. The Franco-Provençal term Bramafan is translated as "He who screams for hunger".
Tour du Baillage.
Tour Fromage ("Cheese tower").

References

External links

Mao, virtual museum of Aosta city
Aosta attractions Aosta's main sights of interest, with descriptions and maps

• • [ e]

Comuni of Aosta Valley

AlleinAntey-Saint-AndrAostaArnadArvierAviseAyasAymavillesBardBionazBrissogneBrussonChalland-Saint-AnselmeChalland-Saint-VictorChambaveChamoisChampdeprazChamporcherCharvensodChtillonCogneCourmayeurDonnasDouesEmarseEtroublesFontainemoreFnisGabyGignodGressanGressoney-La-TrinitGressoney-Saint-JeanHneIntrodIssimeIssogneJovenanLa MagdeleineLa SalleLa ThuileLillianesMontjovetMorgexNusOllomontOyacePerlozPolleinPont-Saint-MartinPontbosetPonteyPr-Saint-DidierQuartRhmes-Notre-DameRhmes-Saint-GeorgesRoisanSaint-ChristopheSaint-DenisSaint-MarcelSaint-NicolasSaint-OyenSaint-PierreSaint-Rhmy-en-BossesSaint-VincentSarreTorgnonValgrisencheValpellineValsavarencheValtournencheVerrayesVerrs Villeneuve

• • [ e]

Regional capitals of Italy

L'Aquila (Abruzzo) Aosta (Aosta Valley) Bari (Apulia) Potenza (Basilicata) Catanzaro (Calabria) Naples (Campania) Bologna (Emilia-Romagna)
Trieste (Friuli-Venezia Giulia) Rome (Lazio) Genoa (Liguria) Milan (Lombardy) Ancona (Marche) Campobasso (Molise) Turin (Piedmont)
Cagliari (Sardinia) Palermo (Sicily) Trento (Trentino-Alto Adige/Sdtirol) Florence (Tuscany) Perugia (Umbria) Venice (Veneto)

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Regione Autonoma Valle d'Aosta
Région Autonome Vallée-d'Aoste
Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley

Map highlighting the location of Valle d'Aosta
Vallée d'Aoste in Italy

Capital Aosta
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Saint Gratus of Aosta (Italian: San Grato di Aosta) (d. September 7, c. 470 AD) is the patron saint of Aosta. He is known to have signed the acts of the synod of Milan in 451 AD as a priest.
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Mont Blanc Tunnel is a road tunnel in the Alps under the Mont Blanc mountain, linking Chamonix, Haute-Savoie, France (), and Courmayeur, Aosta Valley, Italy ().
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Origin Entrèves near Courmayeur
Mouth River Po, near Chivasso
Basin countries Italy
Length 160 km
Source elevation 1400 m

Avg. discharge 110 m³/s
Basin area 3,920 km² Dora Báltea is a river in northern Italy.
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Great St Bernard Pass (Fr. Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard, It. Colle del Gran San Bernardo) is the most ancient pass through the Western Alps, with evidence of use as far back as the Bronze Age, surviving traces of the Roman road and more recently the path of
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Little St Bernard Pass (French: Col du Petit Saint-Bernard, Italian: Colle del Piccolo San Bernardo) is a mountain pass in the Alps on the France - Italy border. Its saddle is at 2188 metres above sea level.
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Augusta Praetoria Salassorum (mod. Aosta), ancient town of Italy in the district of the Salassi, founded Augustus about 24 BC on the site of the camp of Varro arena, who subdued this tribe in 25 BC, and settled with 3000 praetorians.
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Aosta

History

Main sights

See also

References

External links

Zone 1

Events