Aosta

"Aoste" redirects here. For the village in France, see Aoste, Isère.
Aosta
Aoste
Comune
Città di Aosta
Ville d'Aoste

Aerial view of Aosta

Coat of arms
Aosta

Location of Aosta in Italy

Coordinates: IT 45°44′N 7°19′E / 45.733°N 7.317°E / 45.733; 7.317Coordinates: IT 45°44′N 7°19′E / 45.733°N 7.317°E / 45.733; 7.317
Country Italy
Region Aosta Valley
Province / Metropolitan city none
Frazioni Arpuilles, Beauregard, Bibian, Bioulaz, Borgnalle, Brenloz, Busséyaz, Cache, La Combe, Les Capucins, Chabloz, Champailler, Collignon, Cossan, Cotreau, Duvet, Entrebin, Excenex, Les Fourches, Laravoire, Montfleury, Movisod, Pallin, Papet, Pléod, Porossan, La Riondaz, La Rochère, Roppoz, Saraillon, Saumont, Seyssinod, Signayes, Talapé, Tsanté, Tzambarlet, Vignole
Government
 • Mayor Fulvio Centoz (PD)
Area
 • Total 21.37 km2 (8.25 sq mi)
Elevation 583 m (1,913 ft)
Population (30 November 2013)[1]
 • Total 34,800
 • Density 1,600/km2 (4,200/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Italian: Aostani
French: Aostois
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Postal code 11100
Dialing code 0165
Patron saint St. Gratus
Saint day September 7
Website Official website

Aosta ([aˈɔsta]; French: Aoste - [ɔst][2][3] Arpitan: Aoûta; Latin: Augústa Prætṓrĭa Salassṓrum) is the principal city of Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, 110 km (68 mi) 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 (French: Doire baltée), and at the junction of the Great and Little St. Bernard routes. Aosta is not the capital of the province, because Aosta Valley is the only Italian region not divided into provinces. Provincial administrative functions are instead shared by the region and the communes.

History

Arches of the Roman Theatre.
Porta Prætoria.

Aosta was settled in proto-historic times and later became a centre of the Salassi, many of whom were killed or sold into slavery by the Romans in 25 BC.[4] The campaign was led by Terentius Varro, who then founded the Roman colony of Augusta Praetoria Salassorum, housing 3,000 retired veterans. After 11 BC Aosta became the capital of the Alpes Graies ("Grey Alps") province of the Empire. Its position at the confluence of two rivers, at the end of the Great and the Little St Bernard Pass, gave it considerable military importance, and its layout was that of a Roman military camp.

After the fall of the Western Empire, the city was conquered, in turn, by the Burgundians, the Ostrogoths, and the Byzantines. The Lombards, who had annexed it to their Italian kingdom, were expelled by the Frankish Empire under Pepin the Short. Under his son, Charlemagne, Aosta acquired importance as a post on the Via Francigena, leading from Aachen to Italy. After 888 AD 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 became part of the lands of Count Humbert I of Savoy.

Main sights

Ancient remains

Tour du Lépreux.

The ancient town walls of Augusta Prætoria Salassorum are still preserved almost in their entirety, enclosing a rectangle 725 by 571 metres (2,379 by 1,873 ft). They are 6.4 metres (21 ft) high, built of concrete faced with small blocks of stone. At the bottom, the walls are nearly 2.75 metres (9.0 ft) thick, and at the top 1.83 metres (6.0 ft).

Towers stand at angles to the enceinte and others are positioned at intervals, with two at each of the four gates, making twenty towers in total. They are roughly 6.5 metres (21 ft) square, and project 4.3 metres (14 ft) from the wall. Of the 20 original towers, the following are well preserved:

The east and south gates exist intact. The latter, a double gate with three arches flanked by two towers known as the Porta Praetoria (1st century AD) was the eastern gate to the city, and has preserved its original forms apart from the marble covering.[5] It is formed by two series of arches enclosing a small square.

The rectangular arrangement of the streets is modeled on a Roman plan dividing the town into 64 blocks (insulae). The main road, about 10 metres (33 ft) wide, divides the city into two equal halves, running from east to west. This arrangement makes it clear that guarding the road was the main raison d'être of the city.

The Roman theatre, of which the southern façade remains today, is 22 metres (72 ft) tall. The structure, dating from the late reign of Augustus, occupied an area of 81 by 64 metres (266 by 210 ft); it could contain up to 4,000 spectators. In the nearby was the amphitheatre, built under Claudius. A marketplace surrounded by storehouses on three sides with a temple in the centre with two on the open (south) side, as well as a thermae, have also been discovered.

Arch of Augustus.

Outside the town walls is the Arch of Augustus, a triumphal arch in honour of Augustus, built in 35 BC to celebrate the victory of consul Varro Murena over the Salassi. About 8 kilometres (5 miles) to the west is a single-arched Roman bridge, called the Pont d'Aël. It has a closed passage, lighted by windows for foot passengers in winter, and above it an open footpath, both being about 10 metres (33 ft) in width.

Aosta Cathedral.

There are considerable remains of the ancient road from Eporedia (modern Ivrea) to Augusta Praetoria into the Aosta Valley. The modern railway follows this route, notable for the Pont Saint-Martin, which has a single arch with a span of 35 metres (115 ft) and a roadway 4.5 metres (15 ft) wide; the cutting of Donnas; and the Roman bridges of Châtillon (Pont Saint-Vincent) and Aosta (Pont de Pierre).

Other sights

Transport

Aosta railway station, opened in 1886, forms part of the Chivasso–Aosta railway. The branch line to nearby Pré-Saint-Didier, in the Valdigne, on the way towards Courmayeur was closed in 2015.

Aosta Airport is a short distance to the east of the city.

See also

Twin towns-sister cities

Aosta is twinned with:[6]

References

Inline citations
  1. ↑ Bilancio demografico Anno 2013 Novembre (dati provvisori). Provincia: Valle d'Aosta/Vallée d'Aoste, Istat.
  2. ↑ Aostan French pronunciation - Jean-Marie Pierret, Phonétique historique du français et notions de phonétique générale, Peeters, Louvain-la-Neuve, 1994, p.|104.
  3. ↑ Pronounced [ɔst] in Aostan French, [aˈɔst] in standard French.
  4. ↑ John Lemprière, Lorenzo DaPonte, & John David Ogilby (1839), Bibliotheca Classica: Or, A Dictionary of All the Principal Names and Terms, (Tenth American Edition), New York: W.E. Dean. Salassi, p. 281
  5. ↑ Toy, Sidney. Castles: Their Construction and History. New York: Dover Publications, 1985. p. 30.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Annuaire-Mairie.fr. "Ville d'Aoste" (in French). Retrieved 2013-06-18.
General references

Further reading

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Aosta.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aosta.
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