Aosta Valley > The Roman colony

The Roman colony

Emperor Augustus built Augusta Pretoria in 25 B.C. The Romans dominated the region for five centuries, leaving behind impressive traces and tokens of their presence. Augusta Praetoria Salassorum was the symbol of Roman colonisation: a centre of strategic importance for control over the territories that had been conquered and the way of access to the Little and Great Saint Bernard Alpine passes. Still today the town reveals the classic Roman rectangular town plan, with house blocks and streets laid out in neat, straight lines, like on a chessboard, called insulae and with two main streets, the Decumanus maximus and the Cardo maximus. The outline of what used to be the Roman town is still visible and you can also see it in many significant buildings. The Arch of Augustus, the monument which is the symbol of the greatness of Augustus, was probably built the same year as the victory over the Salassians. Aosta’s strategic military function is emphasised by the fortified walls surrounding it; they are among the best preserved Roman walls in existence. Quadrangular towers were erected at the corners of the walls and all along their perimeter, at regular intervals. The ones which still today preserve most of their original features are Tour du Pailleron and the Lebbroso Towers. Of the four entry-ways to town, the western one is still clearly visible: the monumental Porta Praetoria, which used to be the main entrance. The area nearby this gate used to be devoted to the buldings for public entertainment. Here the grandiose theatre was built - the imposing southern faqade is still standing - and the amphitheatre, which is partially visible because it is now part of the Santa Caterina Convent. One of the most suggestive and intact place in the Aosta of Roman times is the Cryptoportico: a semi- underground gallery supported by powerful travertine marble arcades and which used to be part of the greater structure of the Roman Forum. Another grandiose construction is the road to Gaul which turned the region into one of the great international ways of transit. It ted to Aosta and then branched off towards the two Alpine passes. The consular road was used up untill the nineteenth century. Among the bridges built along the way, we remind you of the ones in Pont-Saint-Martin, in Saint-Vincent and in Chatillon.