Asti
Capital and heart of the Province
Is a city sized for man. Noted for its wines and cuisine, although perhaps less so, mistakenly, for its artistic beauty, should be explored by foot, strolling through the city centre that has still preserved its medieval aspect.
The medieval age left splendid traces on the principal monuments, in which the Baroque style of the noble buildings and 19th century elegance of the squares blend together without creating disaccord, even finding harmony with the Liberty style store fronts.
Asti is linked to its magnificent past, relived every year through the Palio of Asti, is vivacious and commercial with its weekly markets, Asti is rich with culture and wine and food events, all rendering any stay just that much more pleasurable.
The Province of Asti: a Land to Discover
From Historic reconstructions to Folkloristic manifestations…
The Territory of Asti offers diverse itineraries to follow…
A visit to the Vezzolano Abbey, the most celebrated Romanesque monument in Piedmont, is not to be missed. Another antique road to be followed is that of the Valle Versa, with its castles, among which include Passerano and Cocconato, the “balcony” of Monferrato.
Religious Journey and Tours
You can also opt for a religious journey, towards the “land of the Saints”:
Castelnuovo Don Bosco, the zone in which San Giovanni Bosco was born, as well as San Domenico Savio, the blessed Cafasso, the cardinal Massaia.
Museums and Marquisate Monferrato
The gentle hills of the antique Marquisate of Monferrato present splendid historic testimony like the Montemagno castle. The ethnographic museums are also interesting: from Cisterna to the Eco-museum sites to the plaster museum of Montafia and Moncucco.
Canelli and its Antique Underground Cellars
The southern part of the Asti territory is that in which cultivation of grapevines is of upmost importance, characterizing the visual aspect of the land: there are many Museums dedicated to wine and its production today and in the past (Costigliole, Mombercelli and Nizza Monferrato are just a few examples). The historic Cellars of Canelli, the capital of the Moscato and Asti Sparkling Wine are like breathtaking underground cathedrals.
First and foremost are the never-ending vineyards that in autumn display thousands of different nuances, so much so that the territory was nominated to become part of the Unesco Patrimony.
For HISTORY and ARTISTIC Paths Lovers
Visit the Costigliole and San Martino Alferi castles, from Calamandrana to Calosso.
And then there is Mombaruzzo, celebrated for its amaretto, rich with noble buildings and artistically important structures, not to mention the far reaching vineyards.
Finally, the location in which the vineyards finish and the hills begin to rise, where the landscape turns rugged and even more picturesque: the Langa astigiana, with its medieval towers against the Saracen invaders in Cassinasco, San Giorgio Scarampi, Olmo Gentile, the “double” church of Cessole and the picturesque ruins of the castles and Roccaverano, with its Bramantinian Parrish church and breathtaking view.
For NATURE Lovers
Do not miss out on excursions to the parks and natural reserves of the area, in the Sarmassa Valley, in the Rocchetta Tanaro forests and at the shores of the Bormida in Sessame to observe the herons that have returned to population the shores of our rivers.