01/05/2025 - 31/12/2026
Incontro, Asti

Description

Asti is the city of the playwright Vittorio Alfieri, famous the world over for its wines and its hundred towers. It is home to the historical Palio which takes it back to the glorious medieval past between waving flags and the sounds of trumpet. Then, on to the discovery of Canelli and the underground cathedrals, the age-old wine cellars carved out of the tuff, which travel for kilometres underground. Masterpieces of engineering and UNESCO heritage site, the cathedrals were built so that the combination between thousand-year-old land, steady temperature and humidity would allow to produce the world’s finest Spumante. The first Italian Spumante was produced here in 1865.

Note

Upon our arrival in the city center of Asti, we will be greeted by our expert guide who will accompany us through the city's rich museum complex.
The visit begins with the crypt of Sant'Anastasio, a building built beneath the early medieval religious complex of Sant'Anastasio.
Archaeological excavations carried out between 1996 and 1997 revealed that the church of Sant'Anastasio was part of the Benedictine convent of the same name, documented as early as 1008 but likely of Lombard origin. A Romanesque church was built on this first building (from which some of the capitals on display in the museum originate).
The Museum, in addition to housing sandstone capitals from the second Romanesque church of Sant'Anastasio, dating back to the 12th century, houses a collection of Roman remains, tracing the architecture of the finds up to the early Middle Ages: cornerstones, coats of arms from city strongboxes, corbels, arch ashlars, and artifacts from four churches built between the 8th and 17th centuries. Its core, dating back to the year 1000, is itself considered an archaeological site of evident historical importance, especially due to its central position within the city walls of Asti.
  After a break at the nearby historic café, our visit continues to Palazzo Mazzetti, named after the Mazzetti family, for centuries among the richest and most influential in the city. It houses the civic art gallery and displays 19th- and 20th-century paintings and collections, precious oriental artifacts, antique fabrics from the Gerbo collection, and collections of 19th- and 20th-century paintings and sculptures.
After a short walk, we'll visit the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. Measuring eighty-two meters long and twenty-four meters high and wide, it is one of the largest churches in Piedmont, the pinnacle of Piedmontese Gothic architecture and one of the finest examples of Lombard Gothic in northern Italy.
Afterwards, we'll head to Canelli to discover the history of sparkling wine and the city's historic underground cathedrals. A visit and tasting will be included in one of the four historic wineries.