Destinations: Aosta

Aosta, Valle d'Aosta

The starting point for many explorations into the Italian Alps, Aosta is an Italian city with ancient Roman roots, current day French cultural influences, and stunning views. For centuries Aosta was an outpost on the Italian frontier and a launch for Roman military expeditions. Today, while Aosta continues to serve its country as a geographic and financial hub, elaborate shopping and dining opportunities have sprung up, enriching the city's commerce and industries. Inside the city's centro storico (historic center), boutiques and market shops abound, while outside the city the great outdoors and Valle d'Aosta's glacial expanses await.

History
Dating all the way back to 2900 B.C., Aosta began as a Megalithic settlement. In 25 B.C, the area and its local population, the Salassi, were conquered by the Romans. Aosta then became a military colony for Emperor Augustus' troops, and was given the name Augusta Praetoria Salassorum. The city still displays traces from this period of Roman military colonization, and is a model of Roman architectural successes. A rectangle outlined by a system of preserved ancient walls, the geographical layout of the town maintains the original street plan with roads crossing each other at right angles. Though these walls survived, over the course of later years Aosta was to suffer invasions from groups such as the Burgundians, the Ostrogoths, and the Franks. In 1302, it became a duchy of the kingdom of Savoy. After 1560 (when the kingdom's capital moved from Chambery to Torino), Aosta lost much of its economic prowess. Only during this century and the last did the city truly begin to regain ground in fiscal development.

Cuisine
In the Valdostana kitchen, a largely agricultural lifestyle has combined with the colder, mountainous climate to generate a hearty and richly restorative cuisine. Lard has emerged as a popular ingredient, and foods with a high fat content, such as fonduta (a cheese sauce made with the local fontina cheese), star in many of Aosta's more traditional dishes.

Sights
The original entrance to Aosta, the Augustinian Arch or Arco d'Augusta, still stands in honor of Augustus, who led the Roman victory over the Salassi. The entry was probably erected the same year the city was founded. The ancient city walls, which run 728 x 574 meters long in perimeter, are built from travertine rock and still preserve several towers. Only one of the four gates to the city still remains, the eastern Porta Praetoria, which is considered one of the handsomest gates in the world. Another testament to Aosta's Roman past is the city's praetorian Bridge, which ran across the Buthier River. A popular overpass during ancient times and throughout the Middle Ages, the thoroughfare was in constant use up until the Buthier changed its course.

Within the city's monastery, Santa Caterina, there are traces of Aosta's once enormous Amphitheater, which at one time held up to twenty thousand spectators. The southern face of another Roman Theater has also survived, though it is currently (as of 2003) under repair. A fascinating ancient forum, the Criptoportico Forense, stands just outside Piazza Papa Giovanni XXIII. The garden leading away from the forum lies directly in front of Aosta's Cathedral. The site below this Cathedral is the source of many early Christian artifacts and edifications. The building itself dates back to the 10th and 11th centuries, though it has been renovated at least several times over the years. Outside the city walls, one finds Sant'Orso, a historic and modest church, with a cloistered ambience reminiscent of the days of medieval monks.